Like all the buildings of the main group, the decorative treatment is largely massed in the great doorway, which is distinctly Renaissance in architecture, Spanish in general treatment, but Roman in the massive dignity of the square, deeply-arched portal. Its style is adapted from ancient models. The coloring within the arch and in the overlaid ornament around and above it is a warm pink, effectively combined with turquoise blue and orange. The lace fan, of Moorish workmanship, above the doors, is especially beautiful in its delicate coloring and fragile texture and in the touch of lightness that it gives. The pilasters on either side of the entrance are Corinthian. The long frieze above the doorway and the figures in the niches on either side are by Mahonri Young of Salt Lake City.
Palace of Liberal Arts
The Tower of Jewels by Night
Either by day or by night, the Tower of Jewels is the dominating center of the Exposition, epitomizing not only its entire meaning and message, but summarizing in detail its architectural development. In the main it follows the Italian Renaissance, with emphasis upon the Greek and Roman elements, while in the ornament it employs many Byzantine features.
The Tower is built in seven stages, rising tier on tier, the base a magnificent Roman arch, with colonnaded courts flanking it on either side. The Corinthian columns of the colonnades are ochre and on each side of the archway, they are of Sienna marble. The sculptured figures by John Flanagan, crowning the columns above the arch, represent in four successive types the men who made Western America—the adventurer, the priest, the philosopher, the soldier. They are repeated on each face of the Tower, the "Armored Horseman" by Tonetti, on the terrace above, being repeated four times on each side. The forms used in the decorative sculpture—the eagle, the wreath, the ship's prow, the various emblems of war—all symbolize victory and achievement.
Palace of Liberal Arts
Elephant Fountain Niche by Night
The ornamental fountain alcoves placed at intervals are important decorative features of the south walls. The shrubbery has been so grouped about the niches that the details of the fountains are partially screened. Upon closer investigation, one finds an elephant's head as the central object in one niche, alternating with a lion throughout the series. They set snugly against the pink panel just over the flaring basin of travertine wherein the water trickles.
At night, these niches are flecked with shadows cast by the surrounding trees. Electric lights, concealed beneath the water, shed a warm glow upon the head of the elephant in its frame of sculptured half columns. These fountain niches, designed by W. B. Faville, are in the same Spanish style of architecture which characterizes the entire south facade of the palaces.
The Tower of Jewels
The Great Roman Archway
Midway on the south face of the Tower of Jewels are inserted four commemorative tablets. The inscription on the panel at the left end of the colonnade reads as follows:
1501—Rodrigo de Bastides pursuing his course beyond the West Indies discovers Panama.