Chapter 4

Panel 2 - We now see the successors of the children of the previous panel grown to manhood. The fact of Natural Selection inflicts itself upon man. Two women are attracted to the same male, a fine intellectual and physical type. The rejected suitors are seen at the end of the panel, one in anger, the other in despair.

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Panel 3 is called The Survival of the Fittest. This is the suggestion that physical strength decides who shall survive. We notice that chieftains struggle to possess the same woman, a woman on the right endeavoring to separate them.

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Panel 4 is called The Lesson of Life.

Elders of experience attempt to give counsel to the love-lorn and impetuous, knowing that impulse may sometimes be a poignant foe.

Returning to Panel 1, the two figures at the right represent Lust, another of the strong forces of the early peoples.

You have now reached your first group beyond the gap.

The first figure is Greed, the third motive in this history of life. He has been holding onto the material things of life - there they are, rolled into a great ball. He realizes how futile his life has been and looks back upon the past, longing to retrace his steps and live to nobler purpose.

Then comes the old man who has the spiritual understanding, and he knows that the only hope for his companion is the realization of the spiritual, the consciousness of immortality, and so he gives to her the winged beetle, the symbol of renewed life.

The time has now arrived for her to leave her mortal life, and she passes into that sleep by which her material body is cast aside.

Thereby the man has his first sorrow. She whom he loved is gone, and he is cast down in despair - because his outlook is not a spiritual one.

The hand of Destiny has drawn these lives unto itself. The law has been fulfilled.

I have taken the liberty of culling the chief ideas from the article on the subject, written for the November "International Studio," adding a few ideas which seem consistent with the work before us.

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This fountain, done in pierced relief, is most decorative in the Court of the Ages. It is, from a technical standpoint, a most remarkable composition.

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The next subject for study is The Tower. Notice the small spire atop. It is like a flêche on a French cathedral and helps in the French feeling which you had when you thought that you had discovered the flamboyant style, and yet, on the whole, it is more the style of Spanish towers than of the French.

Most of the figure work on the tower is by Chester Beach, formerly of San Francisco.

The groups on the tower are now to be considered.

The combined work is called The Rise of Civilization.

The lowest group is Primitive Man during that period when great reptiles, like the saurian in the foreground, crept over the earth; when man fought with huge serpents and gigantic lions.

The rude man in the center has his child on one arm, the other arm protecting his mate (not an ordinary position for the arm of primitive man).

You easily surmise that trouble is near. His look of dogged defiance tells you that he is marching forth to meet some enemy, man or beast. This is the first march of civilization - one in which brute strength plays the principal part.

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Just above, you notice that civilization has now reached the mediaeval stage and you see the Crusader with cross on breast and sword in hand. He has reached this lofty position thru faith (represented by the priest) and war (suggested by the rude warrior). The spiritual has now been added to the physical.

At the side of the tower, holding the same position on the tower as does the Crusader, are suggestions of the crusader's tomb such as one sees in many of the English churches. The Crusader passes on and his place is taken by more advanced types.

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On either side of the Crusader appears the paschal candlestick (which at night is illuminated).

You are approaching the altar.

Above is the Priestess of Religion, with the nimbus surrounding her head. At her feet are children holding, one a book, indicating faith, and the other the wheel, meaning progress.

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Around the court, on the highest pinnacles, are cocks, signifying the dawn of Christianity (in reference to Peter's denying Christ).

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Come back to the tower and you will notice a man and a woman on either side of the altar. They are rising from the primitive man and the primitive woman at their feet. They represent the man and the woman of today. In the case of the man, you will notice how primitive man holds on to him and how the man of today endeavors to shake him off. (The man of today, by the power of thought, is trying to shake the rude brutish nature off.)

(These figures are by Albert Weinert.)

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Primitive Man and Primitive Woman, by Albert Weinert, are seen as finials around the court. He is a simple hunter, or a man whose pastime consists in such amusement as feeding fish to the pelican. She is a woman whose chief work is to rear children.

Leo Lentelli's Aquatic Maids are grouped at the bases of the columns in front of the tower. It was at first planned to have the fountains play to the tops of the columns on which sit the aquatic maids shooting their arrows into the waters, but a change in the plans left the aquatic maids high and dry, hence your wonderment at why they sit aloft.

(Leo Lentelli was born in Bologna, Italy, but now lives in New York).

The Italian cypresses, tall and slender, stand like sentinels in front of the arches.

Orange trees, ten feet in height, heavy with fruit, stand in opulence before the cypresses.

Balled acacias, with repeated regularity of shape, produce in this charming cloister a delightful formalism.

Solid beds of pink hyacinths add a glowing touch of color in this beauteous garden.

The creeping juniper is the border used.

The cistus is the border used around the other beds. Under the trees are planted calceolarias, gebara, Shasta daisies, potentilla, columbine, and many other showy flowers.

The conventional standards at the south end of the cloister are aids in the illumination.

This court is most beautiful at night.

The tower, in white light, has the glowing candlesticks in striking evidence.

Great clouds of seeming incense rise constantly from the altars ranged around the court. Fiery serpents belch fire into the basins below. Beneath the world and around it rises the steam, which is marvelously illuminated.

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The North Court of the Ages

Eucalypti, acacias, English laurel and veronicas are banked close together in this court. Great beds of orange eschscholtzia, the California poppy, make this court a veritable Field of the Cloth of Gold.

The creeping juniper is the border used.

Sherry Fry's "Listening to the Sound of the Ages" stands in this court with her shell to her ear. She listens to the stories that the sea has told the shell, and wonderful, very wonderful, is what she hears.

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Since the first issue of this book I have received in written form Mr. Mullgardt's own wonderful interpretation, which I hereby append with his kind permission. I shall not correct my work, for it will be interesting to compare the work of a layman with that of the initiated:

San Francisco, April 19, 1915.

The Court of the Ages A Sermon in Stone

"The Court of the Ages" is 340 feet square. The surrounding walls are 75 feet high. The Tower is 200 feet high. The floor of the Court declines to the central Basin, affording the observer a full view of the surroundings. The arcaded and vaulted Ambulatory extends continuously around the four sides. The floor of this Ambulatory is elevated above the upper floor level of the Court for the convenience of observers. Its architecture has not been accredited to any established style.

The Court is an historical expression of the successive Ages of the World's growth. The Central Fountain symbolizes the nebulous world with its innate human passions. Out of a chaotic condition came Water (the Basin) and Land (the Fountain) and Light (the Sun supported by Helios, and the Electroliers). The Braziers and Cauldrons symbolize Fire. The floor of the Court is covered with verdure, trees, flowers and fruits. The two Sentinel Columns to the right and left of the Tower symbolize Earth and Air. The eight paintings in the four corners of the Ambulatory symbolize the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The Central Figure in the North Avenue symbolizes "Modern Time Listening to the Story of the Ages."

The decorative motifs employed on the surrounding Arcade are sea plant life and its animal evolution. The conventionalized backbone, the symbol for the vertebrates, is seen between the arches. The piers, arches, reeds and columns bear legendary decorative motifs of the transitional plant to animal life in the forms of tortoise and other shell motifs - kelp and its analogy to prehistoric lobster, skate, crab and sea urchin. The water-bubble motif is carried through all vertical members which symbolize the Crustacean Period, which is the second stratum of the Court.

The third stratum, the Prehistoric Figures, surmounting the piers of the Arcade, also the first group over the Tower Entrance, show earliest forms of human, animal, reptile and bird life, symbolizing the Stone Age.

The fourth stratum, the second group in the Altar Tower, symbolizes human struggle for emancipation from ignorance and superstition in which Religion and War are dominating factors. The kneeling figures on the side Altar are similarly expressive. The torches above these Mediaeval Groups symbolize the Dawn of Understanding. The Chanticleers on the finials surrounding the Court symbolize the Christian Era. The topmost figure of the Altar symbolizes Intelligence, "Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards All" - the symbols of Learning and Industry at her feet. The topmost figure surmounting the side Altar symbolizes Thought.

The Arched Opening forming the inclosure of the Altar contains alternating Masks expressing Intelligence and Ignorance in equal measure, symbolizing the Peoples of the World.

A gradual development to the higher forms of Plant Life is expressed upward in the Altar Tower, the conventionalized Lily Petal being the highest form.

L. C. Mullgardt.

Court of the Four Seasons

It will be noticed that this court is planted mainly with grey-green foliage, the banner poles being of the same color.

Flora

Olive trees. Choisya ternata. High-grade acacias. Coprosma (from Chili - a shiny-leafed shrub on north front). Eucalypti. Cotoneaster bufolia (border). English yews in couples of three groups. Cypresses. English laurel.

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Architect - Henry Bacon of New York.

Architecture - Italian Renaissance.

There is a strong feeling of the architectural influence of Hadrian's Villa, near Rome, when the eye rests on the half dome and also on the treatment of the columns in front of the fountains of the seasons.

This is one of the chief beauty spots of the Exposition. A quiet, reposeful, happy place where birds have built their nests and where they sing their carols of spring.

As you pass into this court from the bay, or north side, your attention is drawn almost immediately to the bucrania, or bulls' heads, between festoons of flowers.

This is only a Renaissance motive, but the mind wanders back to the harvest festivals of olden days, when, after the great harvest procession was over, the bulls were sacrificed to the gods as a reward for the abundant harvest. The same idea is worked out in "The Feast of the Sacrifice," the magnificent bull groups atop the pylons (by Albert Jaegers), where youths and maidens lead the bulls in the harvest procession. Great garlands suggest the festivity.

The whole court is an expression of the abundance of the harvests - especially those of California.

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Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, with her wreath of cereals and her corn sceptre, has just poised on the top of the lovely fountain (by Mrs. Evelyn Longman), the die of which tells you by its cameo figures that this is the fountain of young, fresh, joyous nature. The graceful, happy creatures with garlands and fruits glide past you in song, shaking the tambourine or softly piping their roundelays.

Jolly satyrs, the happy creatures of the woodland, spout water into the basin below.

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The Food Products Palace is on one side, the Agricultural Palace on the other, and the suggestions worked out in the corn of the Ionic capital, the cereal wreaths on the frieze, the sheaves of wheat, are most happy decorations for just this court.

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Pass to the Pool beyond and stop to read the quotation. (from Spenser's "Faerie Queene") on the western gateway.

"So forth issew'd the seasons of the yeare First lusty spring all dight in leaves and flowres Then came the jolly sommer being dight in a thin silken cassock coloured greene Then came the autumne all in yellow clad Lastly came winter, clothed all in frize Chattering his teeth, for cold that did him chill."

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Facing the half dome, walk first to the second niche to the right of the colonnade to examine Furio Piccirilli's Seasons.

Spring - A pyramidal group with Spring with her flowers in the center of the group. To the right is modest, timid, fresh young Flora, bringing her wealth of flowers.

To the left, one sees man adoring, bringing to mind Tennyson's lines from Locksley Hall.

"In the spring a young man's fancies Lightly turn to thoughts of love."

Here is that fine feeling that one has in beautiful springtime - the adoration for all fresh young life. Look above now at Milton Bancroft's murals to left and right. He has painted all of the murals in this court.

"Spring" is here in floral dress and the shepherd pipes sweet notes.

"Seed-time" - This is the time when the seed bag stands open so that the crops for the coming year may be sown.

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Marble group of Summer - Go to the left, along the corridor beyond the gateway, to the second niche - this group expresses fruition.

The mother brings to her husband the babe, the fruit of their love.

The laborer at the right brings in the first harvest.

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Murals

Summer - This is the period of the year when man amuses himself, when the games are in progress. One sees the disc thrower at the left resting after the game. Summer is crowning the victor of the canoe race.

Fruition - Fruits, vegetables, flowers fulfill the meaning of the subject.

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Now pass out into the open to the niche at the left of the gateway of the east.

In the niche is Autumn, a mature figure indicative of the maturity of the year. (Mr. Piccirilli calls her Providence.) It is the time of the harvests. The apples, the grapes, and even the human family are being harvested. The wine is being made and the great vine-decked jars are filled with the ruby fluid.

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Murals

Autumn - The colors speak of autumn. Here is seen the amphora of wine, the tambourine, the rhyton, the Greek drinking horn, and the raised Greek cup - all suggesting the time of festivity after the harvests.

Harvest, and one sees the garnered wheat and vegetables.

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Standing between the two central columns and looking toward the half dome, the eye wanders to the summit, and there, seated on her great cornucopia, the symbol of abundance, is Harvest with her plenteous supply of luscious fruits.

The dates from the south are being borne in on one side, while the great sheaves of wheat are seen on the left.

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Standing on the pedestal at the right of the half dome is Rain (by Albert Jaegers) catching the drops in her shell.

Sunshine (by Albert Jaegers) shielding her eyes with the long palm branch - the rain and the sunshine so necessary for the harvests.

Walk over to see the detail of the capitals and bases of the columns.

On the capitals of these pedestals, on which Rain and Sunshine stand, are the small figures of harvesters - a most charming, original treatment.

At the bases one sees harvest scenes.

The agriculturists pass along to their labors. The women and children accompany the laborers, expecting to help in the many duties of the harvest field. The dog, wagging his tail, follows after the children, and all is activity.

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You will now find it convenient to examine the murals on either side the great half dome.

Facing the Dome.

On the right is Man Receiving Instruction in Nature's Laws. The work is perfectly plain. You could not go astray if you simply read the inscriptions.

An interesting thing to notice is that "Mother Earth" is a man bearing fruits and that "Father Neptune" is a woman with a trident.

Nature's laws are applied to:

Earth, Water, Fire. Love, Life (protecting the flame of life) and Death.

On the left is:

Art Crowned by Time.

The queen of art with her sceptre and palette (with the suggestion of architecture in the temple in the background) is crowned by Father Time, holding his hour-glass. His scythe is seen in the background. Time is bestowing the laurel wreath. At the sides stand the arts of -

Jewelry making, Weaving, Glass making, Painting, Smithery, Pottery.

The emerald pool is before you wreathed with the cotoneaster bufolia with its wealth of red berries.

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Pass now to the last season of the year in the niche to the left of the half dome, Winter.

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Before you is naked winter. Back of her is the leafless tree, with splitting bark.

At the left one feels that man rests after the activities of the harvest season, but there is an added idea in Mr. Piccirilli's words, "In winter, the central figure is Nature resting, or rather in a state of conception. To the right an old man is resting after having prepared the soil for the seed; at the right a strong man is sowing."

Murals

Winter with the snow on the ground.

The fire is necessary; faggots have been gathered; the animals are brought in for the winter food.

The time for spinning has arrived during the long winter evenings (considering the life of today this idea is almost obsolete).

Festivity - Winter strikes the strings of the harp and gaiety is about to glide forth.

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The seasons are again suggested by names of the signs of the zodiac on the gateways,

Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces.

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Look thru the entrance into the Court of Palms at the Horticultural Palace across the way - a fine green and white picture.

Turn back into the Court of the Four Seasons and below the half dome will be seen Albert Jaeger's

Nature (there is a great probability that this will not be placed).

Mother Earth, the great mother, sits in the center.

On the left, carrying the shell, is the Sea.

On the right, upholding the globe, is the Heavens.

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Read the quotation from George Sterling's "The Triumph of Bohemia" to make the connection with your Nature group:

"For lasting happiness we turn our eyes to one alone And she surrounds you now Great Nature, refuge of the weary heart, and only balm to breasts that have been bruised She hath cool hands for every fevered brow And gentlest silence for the troubled soul."

Near by are August Jaeger's figures of Abundance, four times repeated on each gateway; also his spandrel figures, still adding harvest thoughts.

Walk along the colonnade to the right -

As you pass the fountains, you will notice how the water slips its silvery pink reflection from the wall down the terraces into the pool below, producing almost a sunrise or a sunset effect.

The long hanging vine on the wall above is muhlenbeckia, the so-called maidenhair vine.

The shorter vine is lotus bertolletti, showing later its red claw-like flowers.

Court of Palms

As a balance to the Court of Flowers at the east end of the block of palaces is the Court of Palms at the west end.

The general effect in color of decoration is pink and blue.

The columns are coupled Ionic of smoked ivory, producing a most lovely effect against the pastel pink walls back of them.

The caryatids lining off the pink and blue marble panels show a soft flush of pink. (These are by A. Stirling Calder and John Bateman.)

The festoons of fruits at the side of the panels are accented in deeper blues and soft reds.

Notice the delicate figures on either side the cartouche over the portals. The pinks and blues are so delightfully combined.

Between the columns, against the wall, are balled acacias.

The Pool in the center of the Court might be called The Pool of Reflections.

In front of this Court is "The End of the Trail," by James Earle Fraser.

Before you is the end of the Indian race. The poor Indian, following his long trail, has at last come to the end. The worn horse and its rider tell a long, pathetic story.

By the entrances are great vases on which in low relief are Bacchanalian scenes. Satyrs form part of the handles.

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Over the doorways are beautifully colored murals.

On the west -

Fruits and Flowers, by Childe Hassam, a fine area of superb color.

On the east -

The Pursuit of Pleasure, by Chas. Holloway, gracefully carrying out the idea of this court.

On the north -

"Victorious Spirit," by Arthur F. Matthews.

This wonderful golden note represents the Victorious Spirit, the Angel of Light, with widespread wings of protection. She is the means by her gentle influence of keeping materialism (represented by the horse driven by brute force) from riding over the higher expressions of life.

Muhlenbeckia borders the pool, producing a most fernlike effect.

At the side, in front of the flanking Italian Towers, are erica and epacris, in lavenders and pinks, accented by deep lavender pansies.

The tiny border to the beds is myrtus ugni. The wallflowers, interspersed with Spanish and English iris, are massed thruout this court, with rhododendrons in the corners. Against the foundations is pink-and-cream lantana.

The Palm is the strong feature of the court. On either side the portal Italian cypresses have been used.

The lanterns in the corridors have been modeled from Roman lamps, and are particularly beautiful in perspective.

The Court of Flowers Dedicated to the Oriental Fairy Tales.

This exquisite court is by Geo. Kelham of San Francisco, who came from New York just after the San Francisco fire to help in the reconstruction of the city.

He is a man of pronounced ability and has just won in the competition for plans for the new San Francisco Public Library.

The court is made one of great beauty by the collaborated work of Mr. Geo. Kelham, the architect; Mr. Jules Guerin, the colorist, and Mr. John McLaren of San Francisco, the chief of landscape gardening.

A loggia runs around the second story of the court, interrupted along the face by niches which hold "The Oriental Flower Girl," designed by Mr. A. Stirling Calder of New York, but worked out in the studio of the Exposition.

Coupled columns, suggesting glacial ice, form a colonnade around three sides of the court, the fourth side opening into the Avenue of Palms.

As you walk down the main path of this court you are held spell-bound by the fairy-like appearance of the albizzia lophantha, trimmed four feet in height, the top of which branches out into a head five feet across.

One has the feeling of meeting fairies with their skirts out ready for the dance - a veritable fairy ballet. Nothing could be more lovely than this remarkably treated tree. The rich yellow fluff that will soon appear, lasting for some four to six weeks, will be one note of the yellow chord to be struck in this court-pansy, daffodil, albizzia, the orange and the yellow background of niches. (This floral music for March and April.)

A symphony in yellows.

The groups of trees at the north are the eugenia myrtifolia.

Every one appreciates the blessing of the trees and flowers, without which the Exposition would have lost much of its beauty.

The flowers used at the opening of the Exposition can alone be given, but these will serve to show the plan of arrangement.

The six lions are by Albert Laessle, who has many fine examples of his animal life in the Fine Arts Palace.