The only rooms on the first story of the Rectangle which require a
special description are the galleries and pavilions stretching from
the Main Entrance Hall along the west front of the building. As has
been said before, entrance to these is through two corridors, leading
to the north and south. The corridors look out upon the interior
courts; the floors are of mosaic, and the walls are painted in
simple tones of color with pilasters of Vermont marble polished to
a peculiarly soft and waxy surface. The ceiling is a succession of
small domes in white and gold. In the centre of each is a large gilt
rosette. Around it are hexagonal coffers, or panels ornamented with
painted figures. The broad arches between are decorated with coffers
and panels in relief, and, finally, the tympanums beneath the domes
(one at either end of the corridor, and seven along the west wall)
are occupied with panels representing, in the corridor to the south,
which the visitor is now supposed to have entered, _The Greek Heroes_.
=Mr. McEwen’s Paintings.=--The series is the work of Mr. Walter
McEwen. The special subjects are incidents, as related in Greek
mythology, in the lives of the following heroes, taking the paintings
in order from north to south: _Paris_, _Jason_, _Bellerophon_,
_Orpheus_, _Perseus_, _Prometheus_, _Theseus_, _Achilles_, and
_Hercules_.
Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy, was brought up as a shepherd
on Mt. Ida. When a dispute arose among the three goddesses, Juno,
Minerva and Venus, as to who should possess a golden apple inscribed
“To the Fairest,” which Eris (Strife) had flung in the midst of an
assembly of the deities, Paris was selected by Jupiter to decide
their quarrel. He awarded the apple to Venus, who promised him the
most beautiful woman in the world to be his bride. Hearing of the
charms of Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta, Paris sailed
to Greece, and by the aid of Venus carried her away to Troy--thus
provoking the expedition of the Grecian chiefs, and the ten years’
siege of Troy. Mr. McEwen’s painting shows Paris at the court of
Sparta, conversing with Menelaus, while Helen sits listening beside
her husband.
[Illustration: CORRIDOR OF THE SPECIAL READING ROOMS.]
Pelias, King of Iolchos in Thessaly, was warned by the oracle to
beware of his nephew Jason. He therefore sent him in search of the
Golden Fleece. This had belonged to a ram which had miraculously
carried Phryxus and Helle, a brother and sister in danger of their
lives through the cruelty of a stepmother, across the sea to Colchis.
Here, when the ram died, Phryxus hung up its fleece in the grove of
Mars, where it was guarded by a sleepless dragon. Jason accepted the
quest, and is here shown inviting the Grecian heroes to join in the
voyage which he is to make to Colchis in the ship Argo--to enroll
themselves in the famous band of the “Argonauts.”
The third painting shows Bellerophon receiving from Minerva a golden
bridle with which he may guide the winged horse, Pegasus. The hero
had incurred the dislike of his kinsman, Proteus, King of Argos, who
sent him with a sealed message to Iobates, King of Lycia. The message
desired Iobates to cause Bellerophon to be slain. Being unwilling
to do this directly, Iobates sent him to encounter the Chimæra, a
horrible monster, part lion, part goat, and part serpent, which
was devastating his domains, and which had overpowered all who had
ventured to attack it. By the help of Minerva and the winged horse,
Bellerophon was successful.
Orpheus, who charmed with his song the rocks, the trees, the wild
beasts, and even the infernal powers, incurred the wrath of Bacchus,
whose divinity he refused to worship. Bacchus therefore inflamed his
priestesses, the Mœnads, or Bacchantes, against the poet, who was
slain, as here represented by Mr. McEwen, in one of their orgies.
Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Danaë. Danaë’s father had heard
that his daughter’s son would be the cause of his death. He therefore
set the mother and child afloat in the sea in a chest, which was
safely cast upon the island of Seriphos, the ruler of which was
Polydectes. By the time Perseus had grown to manhood, Polydectes had
fallen madly in love with Danaë, and, fearing lest Perseus should
be a bar to his passion, he ordered him to cut off the head of
the Gorgon Medusa, whose face turned to stone everyone who looked
upon it. Assisted by Minerva, Perseus succeeded in his adventure.
Returning to Seriphos he found Danaë persecuted by Polydectes, and,
appearing at the palace of the king while he and his court were
sitting at dinner, he drew the head of Medusa from his wallet and
turned the whole company into stone.
[Illustration: PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA.--BY WALTER McEWEN.]
Prometheus is represented as warning his brother Epimetheus not to
accept Pandora from the gods. Prometheus, who, with his brother, was
the first of mankind, had outwitted Jupiter in the matter of offering
sacrifices; Jupiter, in return, had withheld fire from earth.
Prometheus, however, secured it by stealth from heaven, and Jupiter
in revenge formed Pandora, the first woman, and sent her to become
the bride of Epimetheus. Epimetheus disregarded his brother’s advice
and took Pandora and with her the fatal box, which, when opened,
let loose a cloud of evils to torment, with only delusive Hope to
console, mankind.
Theseus is directed by Minerva to leave Ariadne, who sleeps beside
him, and proceed to Athens alone. Athens had been compelled for years
to send an annual tribute of youths and maidens to Minos, king of
Crete, to be devoured by the Minotaur, a savage monster, half bull,
half man, who was confined in a Labyrinth. Theseus voluntarily
sailed on the tribute-ship, and reaching Crete gained the love
of the daughter of Minos, Ariadne, by whose aid he was enabled,
after slaying the Minotaur, to find his way out of the Labyrinth.
Returning, he bore Ariadne away with him, but deserted her at the
island of Naxos, as here depicted, at the command of Minerva. There
she was found by Bacchus, who made her his bride.
[Illustration: PARIS AND HELEN.--BY WALTER McEWEN.]
Achilles, disguised as a maiden, and living among the women of the
court of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, is discovered by Ulysses. Thetis,
the mother of Achilles, had been forewarned that her son would die
an early death, as it turned out afterwards that he did, being slain
by Paris before the walls of Troy. She therefore dipped him, while
still an infant, in the River Styx. He was thus made invulnerable in
every part of his body except his heel, by which his mother had held
him, and which therefore remained unaffected by the sacred water.
To make assurance doubly sure, Thetis sent him to Lycomedes to be
reared as a maiden, far from the dangers of war. When the Greeks
were arming for the siege of Troy, the oracle informed them that
without Achilles the city could never be taken. The crafty Ulysses
was therefore sent in search of him. He arrived at the court of
Lycomedes disguised as a pedler, bearing in his basket weapons of war
and feminine trinkets. Showing these among the women, all were eager
to examine the ornaments; Achilles clutched at the sword and shield,
thus discovering himself immediately to the keen eye of Ulysses.
Hercules was sold as a slave by Mercury to Omphale, Queen of Lydia.
They became enamored of each other, and Hercules, to please her, wore
female garments, and spun among the female slaves. The artist here
exhibits him aiding the queen in her task.