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| THE PERISTYLE - This magnificient colonnade takes
its
name from a projected peristyle of columns that was to have encircled
the harbor of the Fair, but was happily abandoned for this simplier
and more beautiful form. Through this portal came all visitors by
lake, and it was by this entrance alone that the architecture of the
Exposition could be effectively judged. The colonnade in which this
portal was centrally placed contained forty-eight great Corinthian
columns, and connected the Casino on the south with the Music Hall on
the north. The States and Territories of the Union were symbolized in
the columns. Placed upon the arch of triumph, in the most
distinguished position, stood the Columbus
quadriga, or
four-horse chariot, designed by the sculptors French and Potter,
completed at a cost of $15,000. On pedestals at the right and left of
the portal are groups representing the "Genius of Navigation," the
creations of Bella G. Pratt, of New York. Heroic figures stand in
double row on the balustrade, representing Eloquence, Music,
Navigation, Fisherman and Indian, and fill the spaces between the two
terminal structures. The promenade beneath its colonnade at night,
under the incandescent lights that ornamented as well as illuminated
its high spaces, was much frequented, especially by visitors who were
watching the display of fireworks. The inscriptions on the Peristyle
were suggested by President Eliot of Harvard University. It will be
noted that other explorers beside Columbus are honored in this classic
structure. The cost of the Peristyle, Music Hall and Casino was
$200,000, and the architect was C. B. Atwood, of Chicago. |
