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| LOOKING LAKEWARD FROM THE STATUE OF INDUSTRY -
The great horses on the Manufactures side of the Grand Basin faced the heroic bulls on the Agricultural side,
directly across the water; and each pair guarded a gondola-landing,
leading to a central entrance of one of the buildings. The
horse-groups were made by French and Potter, and nearly all the
sculpture in sight at this conspicuous point was modeled by one or
the other or both of these eminent men. Mr. French cast the pieces of
staff which together completed the Statue of
the Republic, a figure whose proportions cannot by justly
criticised, and the most successful ever made. The great company of
statues that marched in double file along the Colonnade were also by
French and Potter; and the crowning Quadriga, on the sea-portal, by the same
sculptors, offered, by day and by night, one of the most perfect views
ever cast upon the horizon - a mirage of art, soon to pass from the
thirsty desert of toil and duty. At night the many search-lights from
the Battle Ship, the Manufactures roof, the Electricity, and the South Colonnade focused their bright rays on
these decorations, limning them upon the darkness with magic effect.
The group immediately before us is to be highly praised for the pose
of the farmer, and it is not impossible that the sculptor had in mind
as his model the Director of Works, Mr. Burnham, a man renowned for
his industry and determination. |
