It requires several visits to the Exposition to become accustomed to the stupendous scale which has been followed, not only in the expansive landscape gardening, but in the architectural plans.
In this illustration, a faint conception is afforded of the proportions of the main entrance to the Palace of Food Products. The doors themselves are of ample size, yet are dwarfed to insignificance by the lofty columns and vaulted ceiling of this delightful portal, which is a reproduction from the Spanish Cathedral of Salamanca. The great arches are decorated after the plateresque style, and the spandrels abound in garlands, horns of plenty and other goodly tokens. A Moorish note is detected in the lacy network of the latticed windows. The domed ceilings are painted blue and tints of pink and dull orange are used on the walls and columns of the portal.
The Esplanade
North Facade, Column of Progress
The Esplanade is bounded on the north by the Marina and the sparkling waters of the Bay: The boundary line on the south is the imposing frontage formed by the north facade of the four palaces, broken by the inviting entrances to the Court of Ages, the Court of the Universe and the Court of the Four Seasons.
The domes which mark these entrances loom up in fine proportions, and the entrances to the various palaces are particularly well done. Against the old ivory of the massive walls are clustering thickets of cedar, spruce, eucalyptus and clumps of low-growing shrubs.
It is a rare combination—the view one has from the Esplanade. Across the Bay are the inviting hills of Marin County and equally enticing are the vistas stretching through colonnades and arches formed by the courts and palaces of the Exposition. The Column of Progress, surmounted by the "Adventurous Bowman", holds the most noticeable position on the Esplanade.
North Facade
A View from the Bay
The Esplanade extends westward from the ferry slip, along the north facade of the main group of buildings, past the massive walls of the California building and through the States' section to the Massachusetts building.
From the Bay, the dominating center of the Esplanade is the splendid Column of Progress, on either side of which lies the Spanish wall of the north facade broken only by the four magnificent and identical sixteenth-century Renaissance portals which open into the Palaces of Mines, of Transportation, of Agriculture and of Food Products. From the base of the Column of Progress, the vista stretches away, through the Forecourt of the Stars and the Court of the Universe, to the Tower of Jewels, which dominates the southern approach to the grounds. Against the sky-line are outlined the lesser spires of the Italian towers, the heavy bulk of the sculptured groups crowning the arches of the Rising and the Setting Sun, the square summit of the Tower of the Ages and the round domes of the palaces.
Palace of Food Products
A View from the Fine Arts Laguna