The Court of the UniverseThrough the arch we passed into the neck of the Court of the Universe, which charmed us by the warmth of its coloring, by McLaren's treatment of the sunken garden, by its shape, by the use of the dark pointed cypress trees against the walls, and by the sweep of view across the great court to the Marina, broken, however, by the picturesque and inharmonious Arabic bandstand.We glanced at the inscriptions at the base of the tower carrying on the history of the Canal to its completion.Then we stopped before those graceful little elephants bearing Guerin's tall poles with their streamers."That little fellow is a gem in his way.He comes from Rome.But the heavy pole on his back is almost too much for him.He's used pretty often on the grounds, but not too often.After the Exposition is over we ought to keep these figures for the Civic Center.They would be very ornamental in the heart of the city."As we walked toward the main court, the architect called my attention to the view between the columns on the other side of the Tower of Jewels, with the houses of the city running down the hills."San Francisco architecture may not be beautiful when you study individual houses.But in mass it is fine.And, of a late afternoon, it is particularly good in coloring.It seems to be enveloped in a rich purple haze.That color might have given the mural decorators a hint.It would have been effective in the midst of all this high-keyed architecture.It's easy here to imagine that you're in one of those ancient Hindu towns where the gates are closed at night.You almost expect to see camels and elephants."What was most striking in the Court was its immensity."Though it comes from Bernini's entrance court to St.Peter's in Rome, it is much bigger.
There are those who think it's too big.But it justifies itself by its splendor.The use of the double row of columns is particularly happy.
The double columns were greatly favored by the Romans.In St.Peter's Bernini used four in a row.And what could be finer than those two triumphal arches on either side, the Arch of the Rising Sun and the Arch of the Setting Sun, with their double use of symbolism, in suggesting the close relation between California and the Orient, as well as their geographical meaning? They are, of course, importations from Rome, the Arch of Constantine and the Arch of Titus all over again, with a rather daring use of windows with colored lattices to give them lightness and with colossal groups of almost startling proportions used in place of the Roman chariot or quadriga."Originally, the intention had been to use here the name of the Court of Sun and Stars.Then it was changed to the Court of Honor, and finally to its present name, to suggest the international character of the Exposition.
Those two groups represented by far the most ambitious work done by the sculpture department.From designs by Calder, they were made by three sculptors, Calder, Roth and Lentelli.They presented problems that must have been both difficult and interesting to work out.First, they had to balance each other.What figure in the Pioneer group could balance the elephant that typified the Orient? Calder had the idea of using the prairie schooner, associated with the coming of the pioneers to California, drawn by great oxen.
The Oriental group doubtless shaped itself in picturesque outlines much more quickly than the sturdy, but more homely Americans of the earlier period.The Orientals displayed an Indian prince on the ornamented seat, and the Spirit of the East in the howdah, of his elephant, an Arab shiek on his Arabian horse, a negro slave bearing fruit on his head, an Egyptian on a camel carrying a Mohammedan standard, an Arab falconer with a bird, a Buddhist priest, or Lama, from Thibet, bearing his symbol of authority, a Mohammedan with his crescent, a second negro slave and a Mongolian on horseback.
The Nations of the West were grouped around that prairie wagon, drawn by two oxen.In the center stood the Mother of Tomorrow a typical American girl, roughly dressed, but with character as well as beauty in her face and figure.On top of the wagon knelt the symbolic figure of "Enterprise," with a white boy on one side and a colored boy on the other, "Heroes of Tomorrow." On the other side of the wagon stood typical figures, the French-Canadian trapper, the Alaska woman, bearing totem poles on her back, the American of Latin descent on his horse, bearing a standard, a German, an Italian, an American of English descent, a squaw with a papoose, and an Indian chief on his pony.The wagon was modelled on top of the arch.It was too large and bulky to be easily raised to that great height.
