MONUMENT OF VICTORY, Berlin, Germany.—This monument, rising to a height of two hundred feet, stands on a circular terrace, approached by eight granite steps in the Thiergarten. It was dedicated on September 2, 1873, to commemorate the great victories of 1870 and 1871. The massive square pedestal is adorned with reliefs in bronze. Above, in the flutings of the column, which consists of yellow, grayish sandstone, are placed three rows of Danish, Austrian and French cannon, captured in the different battles fought with those nations.
THE HISTORIC WINDMILL, Potsdam, Germany.—Potsdam is almost entirely surrounded by a fringe of royal palaces, parks and pleasure-grounds. Here is located the palace of Sanssouci. Adjacent to the palace is the famous windmill, now royal property, which its owner refused to sell to the King, meeting threatened violence by an appeal to the judges of its supreme court.
MADONNA DI SAN SISTO (by Raphael), Dresden Gallery, Dresden, Germany.—This masterpiece of Raphael, was photographed direct from the original painting, worth $400,000. It is an altar-piece, representing the Virgin and Child in clouds, with St. Sixtus on the right, St. Barbara on the left, and the cherubs beneath. A curtain has just been drawn back, and the Virgin issues, as it were, from the depth of Heaven, her large serene eyes seeming to embrace the whole world in their gaze. The most striking feature of the painting is the expression of naive innocence depicted on the faces of the cherubs.
MAGDALENE (by Battoni),
Dresden Gallery,
Dresden, Germany.
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF PARIS, France.—Paris, the largest city in the French Republic, and its capital, covers an area of thirty square miles, with a population of about 2,000,000. The river Seine, which flows through the centre of the city, is spanned by twenty-eight bridges, of which the seven principal are shown on this photograph. The city is noted for its fine parks, magnificent churches, colossal buildings, and wide boulevards, of which the Champs Elysees is the most famous. Paris is the centre of the political, artistic, scientific, commercial and industrial life of the nation.
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE, Paris, France.—Place de la Concorde, one of the most beautiful and extensive public parks in Paris, being considered, by the best authorities, the finest in the world, is bounded by the Seine, Champs Elysees, Tuileries and Rue de Rivoli. Numerous historical associations are connected with the place. The guillotine did much bloody work here during 1793-4-5; upwards of 2800 people perished by it. Foreign troops frequently bivouacked on the square when Paris was in their power. The Obelisk of Luxor, a Monolith or single block of reddish granite 76 feet high, was presented to Louis Phillipi by Mohamed Ali and erected in the centre of the Place. It adds very much to the interest of the park.
MADELEINE, PARIS, France.—The foundation of this church was laid by Louis XV. in 1764. The Revolution found the edifice unfinished, and Napoleon I. ordered the building to be completed as a "Temple of Glory." Louis XVIII., however, returned to the original intention of making it a church. The edifice was finally completed in 1842, and the amount of money expended was upwards of $2,500,000. It stands on a basement, surrounded by massive Corinthian columns. The building, which is destitute of windows, is constructed exclusively of stone, light being admitted through sky-lights in the roof.
OPERA HOUSE, Paris, France.—This is a most sumptuous edifice, completed in 1874, and covering an area of nearly three acres. Nothing can surpass the magnificence of the materials with which it is decorated, and for which almost all Europe has made contributions. Sweden and Scotland yielded a supply of green and red granite; from Italy were brought the yellow and white marbles; from Finland, red porphyry; from Spain, "brocatello;" and from France, other marbles of various colors. The cost of the site was over $2,000,000, and that of the building nearly $8,000,000.
GREAT BOULEVARDS, Paris, France.—The splendid line of streets, known as the Great Boulevards, which extend on the north side of the Seine, from the Madeleine at one end, to the Bastile at the other, was originally the line of fortifications or bulwarks of the City of Paris. In 1670, the city having extended northward far beyond the fortifications, the moats were filled up, the walls destroyed and the above Boulevards formed. This photograph represents the Grand Hotel at the corner of the Place de l'Opera.
JULY COLUMN, Paris, France.—The above monument was erected after the Revolution of July, 1830, in honor of the heroes who fell on that occasion, and solemnly dedicated in 1840. The total height of the monument is one hundred and fifty-four feet, resting on a massive round sub-struction of white marble, originally intended for Napoleon's Elephant, which he had planned to erect in bronze on this spot; but his plans were never consummated. On the sub-struction rises a square basement, on each side of which are four bronze medallions, symbolical of Justice, the Constitution, Strength and Freedom.