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| THE GRAND BASIN FROM THE PERISTYLE - This view
is from the Columbus Quadriga, on the
Colonnade at the harbor, and gives a nearly complete photograph of
the Basin. We obtain here a right sense of the width of the lower
plazas, between the balustrades of the Basin and the balustrades
nearer the buildings. The admirable drapery of the sixty-five foot
statue of the Republic is displayed,
showing that French was a master of the arithmetic of his art, for
nobody could judge of the total effect of this work until it was put
together on a thirty-five foot pedestal. The entrance to the statue
is seen at the foot of the pedestal, and, doubtless, men are standing
in the door. Thus we may be guided to measure the height of the
wonderful effigy - perhaps the most successful of its kind that has
ever been moulded. On the right is the Manufactures, next the
Electricity and next the Mines. In front is the Administration, which but partly hides the
Terminal Station. On the left is the Agricultural and, further off, Machinery Hall, whose central northern spires
are seen to break the facade line of the Court of Honor, as this
square was called. The sea-horses and Barge of State of the
MacMonnies' Fountain are but dimly discerned behind the sprays of
water. E. C. Potter's bulls and horses are seen at the boat landings
on either side of the Basin. The angels on the Administration
Building, with all their heroic size, have dwindled to the appearance
of tropic plants, and smaller statues barely show at all. Greatest
length of Basin, thirteen hundred feet; width, three hundred feet. |
