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| SOUTH PORCH OF THE ART PALACE - This was the
centre of the great Ionic picture that awoke so much enthusiasm among
architects of the world. It was approached by water, and the object
of its creator, in uniting mass with simplicity and still preserving
Ionian conventions, was here best apprehended. Mr. C. B. Atwood, the
architect of the Peristyle and South Colonnade, erected this
huge
temple, and, following the measurements of the ancient builders, he
added roof and dome in accordance with the development of modern
architectural ideas. We may note the moderated dome simulating the
early treatment of that form of superstructure, and the small
tympanum of the pediment into which the sculptor has put only the
word "Art"; but such was the noble influence of its surroundings that
this was perhaps the only highly impressive inscription in the
Exposition. The caryatides, wherever seen, are by Martiny, for after
the rapidity and success with which he had covered the Agricultural
Buiding with statues, he was solicited to give his aid to the Art
Palace. Here he did not catch the spirit of the sylvan dell, or did
not have time or headway, since his winged Victory, surmounting the
dome, was soon removed as supererogatory. The statue on the
stairway, by Olin L. Warner, was one of eight somewhat similar
figures. The lions were made by Edward Kemeys and A. Phimester
Proctor. The Art Palace remains as the home of the Field Columbian
Museum. |
