In the North Court of Ages, leading to the Esplanade, the tower is identical with the main court, and the entire architectural treatment, while simpler, is in the same spirit. Robbed of the complex symbolism by which, in the larger court, the evolution of the lower forms of life is depicted, the higher spiritual lesson is here intensified. The sculptured groups in the tower, by Chester A. Beach of San Francisco, represent the rise of humanity through successive ages of civilization. The conventionalized lily petals decorating the summit of the tower suggest the highest forms of plant life. The delicate lace-like finials, rising from the highest points of court and tower alike, express aspiration. The chanticleers on the finials surrounding the court symbolize the dawn of Christianity.
The star-like clusters of lights, raised aloft, two in the main court and four in the north court, deepen the ecclesiastical atmosphere by suggesting the golden monstrance emblematic of the rays of the sun and of the radiating presence of God, and used in the Catholic Church as a receptacle for the sacred host.
—M. W. R.
Florentine Court
Palace of Transportation
The Florentine Court and the Venetian Court lie east and west respectively of the Court of the Universe. They are sometimes called the Aisles of the Rising and the Setting Sun. While in reality only connecting avenues, the wealth or careful detail lavished upon them makes of them charming interludes between the larger and more imposing courts, and yet so skillfully do they conform to the general plan that they blend one larger court with another, without expressing a distinct individuality of their own. They were planned by W. B. Faville of San Francisco. While identical in design upon three sides, their adaptation upon the fourth side to the courts which they adjoin, east and west, and the variety in landscape effects, insure against exact duplication.
The Florentine Court lies between the Court of Ages and the Court of the Universe, with the Palace of Transportation bounding it on the north and the Palace of Manufactures on the south. Its eastern wall repeats the rich decorative treatment of the Court of Ages, which it joins.
Court of the Universe
Through Three Great Arches
When one stands in the Court of the Four Seasons, facing east, two splendid arches are seen framed by the Eastern Gateway of the Court. The first, across the Venetian Court, is the Arch of the Setting Sun, surmounted by its symbolic group of the Nations of the West. Across the vast Court of the Universe, beyond the Fountains of the Rising and the Setting Sun, is the triumphal Arch of the Rising Sun surmounted by its symbolic group of the Nations of the East.
These magnificent modern expressions of the arches erected by the old Romans to commemorate their triumphs were designed by McKim, Mead and White, the architects of the Court of the Universe, and are richly adorned with sculpture designed by various artists. In the attics are carved appropriate inscriptions selected by Porter Garnett, which will be found on succeeding pages.
There is an atmosphere of bigness about the Court of the Universe, created not only by the architectural features, but by the symbolism of the final meeting of the Nations of the World, made possible by the completion of the Panama Canal.