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| THE COLUMBUS QUADRIGA - This group of
sculpture in staff stood on the arch pylon of the Lake Michigan
Colonnade ("Peristyle"). It burned on the night
of January 8, 1894,
when the eastern end of the Court of Honor was destroyed. It was
modeled in the Forestry Building by Daniel C. French and E. C. Potter
at the same time the heroic horses and bulls for the basin were made
by those collaborating sculptors. In its composition the creator of
the colossal Republic Statue had share, so the statements that
the
Quadriga rivaled the Republic, and vice versa, lose force, because
the same sculptor placed the two conspicuous objects on high in the
east of the Court of Honor. A close view of the group is here
afforded, with this exception, namely, that in addition to the four
horses and three human figures plainly seen in the engraving, there
appeared at the sides of the rear of the car two mounted couriers who
supported standards of victory such as are usually held by the
central effigy in such groups. Columbus rested on his sword, and two
horses drew his chariot; these were led by two maidens, who also led
two attendant steeds. This group cost $15,000. It recalls a similar
ornamentation on the Brandenburg gate in Berlin. Placed on a point
so well removed from the eye, its size might have been increased with
good effect. It was a war figure, and the work "Quadriga" originally
meant "a yoke of four" drawing a battle car. |
