Court of the Four Seasons
The Court of the Four Seasons, unlike the other main courts, does not immediately call forth one's exclamations of surprise and delight. It is not so compellingly beautiful as either of the others. Nevertheless it has a distinctive charm of its own-a reposeful atmosphere and a simplicity of form that become more and more appealing with riper acquaintance. It is a good place to come to when one is satiated with the beauties of the other courts, for restfulness is the keynote. The simple massive style of the architecture and the simple planting scheme combine to produce a spirit of calm. The ideas of energy, achievement, progress, effort-so insistently emphasized elsewhere-are left behind, and everything breathes a sense of peace and orderliness, of things happening all in good season.
The primary idea underlying the decorative features of the court is sufficiently indicated in the name, "The Four Seasons;" and this idea is symbolically expressed in the sculpture and mural paintings in the four corners of the colonnade. But a study of the other decorations shows that the idea of abundance, or fruitfulness, was equally in the minds of architect and sculptors. The purely architectural ornaments, such as the capitals and the running borders, employ the symbols of agriculture and fruitfulness, while no less than five of the main sculptural groups or figures deal directly with harvest themes.
Architecture
The style of architecture is in general Roman. The half-dome and the colonnades are almost severely classic. The column capitals are Ionic. But in the freedom of some of the architectural forms, particularly in the archways at east and west, there is a suggestion of Renaissance influence. The plan with its four cut-corners with fountains, and its half-dome facing down the long colonnade to the bay, is ingenious. The half-dome itself, dominating feature of the court, is exceptionally dignified and impressive. To obtain the best view of it as a single unit, one should stand between two columns of the colonnade near either the Fountain of Summer or the Fountain of Autumn-as from these points the eye is not carried through the doorway at the back of the dome, to the detriment of a unified impression.
Henry Bacon is the architect who designed the Court of the Four Seasons.
Sculpture
Bulls on pylons. The finest sculpture here is to be found in the groups capping the pylons at the entrance to the minor north court. Though called by the artist "The Feast of Sacrifice," these are commonly known as "The Bulls." The group, which is duplicated, shows a bull being led to sacrifice by a youth and a maid, and is reminiscent of the harvest-time celebrations of ancient peoples. But it is just as well to forget the subject, and to admire purely for the sensuous charm-for the beauty of outline, the fine modeling, and the remarkable sense of spirited action. Note the three figures individually: the nobly animated bull, the magnificently set-up youth, and the strong yet graceful maiden; then note how the sacrificial garland holds the whole group together and makes it richer. Note, too, how the forward-moving lines of the bull are accentuated on one side by the similar lines of the youth's body, and on the other by the contrasting lines of the girl's. Putting aside any question of meaning, there is not in any of the courts a nobler bit of decorative work than this. Albert Jaegers was the sculptor.
Figures surmounting columns. On the two columns before the half-dome are Albert Jaegers' figures of "Rain" and "Sunshine." At the right, as one faces the dome, Rain is typified by a woman shielding her head with her mantle and holding out a shell to catch the water. At the left Sunshine is represented by a woman shielding her head from the sun's rays with a palm-branch. Both figures are characterized by a sense of richness, of fullness, that is perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the court. In commenting on these statues, in one of his lectures on the art of the Exposition, Eugen Neuhaus, the well-known California painter, suggested very appropriately that the court should have been named for them "The Court of the Two Seasons" since in California the only noticeable seasonal change is from a sunny period to a rainy period.
Group surmounting half-dome. This shows a conventional seated figure of Harvest, with an overflowing cornucopia. At one side a child-figure bows under a load of fruit. This group also is by Albert Jaegers. Here, as in "Rain" and "Sunshine," there is a sense of fruitfulness, of profuseness, a maternal suggestion that helps to carry out the symbolism of the court. In all three of these statues, too, there is something of the nobility and massiveness that distinguish the same artist's "bull" groups across the court. All are eminently suited to the massive Roman architecture; nowhere else have sculptor and architect worked together more successfully.