The Seasons. In the four corners of the colonnade there are eight panels, grouped by twos as follows: Spring and Seed Time; Summer and Fruition; Autumn and Harvest; and Winter and Festivity. There is little to hold the attention either in richness of color or in unusual grace of composition. Moreover, the artist has left nothing to the imagination in the symbolism by which he expresses the several ideas. The devices are so hackneyed, and the meaning so obvious, that any sort of interpretation would be entirely superfluous.
Panels under half-dome. On the east wall under the dome is the panel Art Crowned by Time. Father Time crowns Art, while on one side stand figures representing Weaving, Jewelry, and Glasswork, and on the other Printing, Pottery, and Smithery. On the opposite wall is the panel Man Receiving Instruction in Nature's Laws. A woman holds before a babe a tablet inscribed "Laws of Nature," while on one side are figures of Fire, Earth and Water, and on the other figures of Death, Love, and Life. These two larger panels are more pleasing than the eight representing the Seasons, both in coloring and in figure composition; and they make pleasing spots of bright color in the dome. But again the artist is tediously careful to make his meanings plain. Not only does each figure hold its obvious symbol prominently in view, but there are labels naming the figures. To the art student the painter's stipple-and-line method, producing vibration of light and a certain freshness of atmosphere, will be of interest, as being out of the usual run of mural technique.
Before leaving the Court of the Four Seasons one should stand under the central arch of the triple portal at the east, and look first to the east through the Arch of the Setting Sun to the group "Nations of the East;" and then to the west along the vista that ends with the kneeling figure before the Fine Arts temple. The arrangement of architectural and sculptural units in both vistas is worthy of study.
The Court of Palms and the Court of Flowers
In these two courts, which pierce the walled city on the south, opposite the Palace of Horticulture and opposite Festival Hall, is to be found the purest expression of that spirit of the Italian Renaissance which hovers over so much of the Exposition architecture. Here, too, one finds Jules Guerin's color scheme at its richest. Both courts necessarily lack the cloistral charm of the Court of Abundance, since they have the fourth sides open. But what they lack in the sense of enclosure they make up in sunniness and joyous color. They are restful and warm and quiet-and artistically they are among the most perfect and most harmonious units on the grounds.
The Court of Palms
The Court of Palms is directly opposite the Palace of Horticulture, between the Education and Liberal Arts Palaces, and adjoins the Court of the Four Seasons. The charming sunken garden and simple pool reflect the colored colonnade, arches and towers with a sense of rest that is a relief and stimulant after walking miles of exhibit halls. Although really nearly two acres in area, the court seems small and intimate. The proportions are good, and the planting particularly fortunate.
The architecture is Renaissance, and is suggestive of the interior courts of the palaces of the Italian nobles. The colonnade columns are Ionic. The high attic story or frieze above the colonnade is remarkably rich, with its orange brown panels garlanded with green and red fruits, and decorated with Caryatid pilasters. It is worthy of study for the way in which architect, sculptor and color director have co-operated. The Italian Towers, terminating the colonnades, are among the finest bits of architectural design in the whole building group. Though only a fraction of the height of the Tower of Jewels, they convey much better the impression of reaching high into the heavens, of aspiration and uplift. They are more satisfying, too, in their combination of architectural forms, and they carry out notably well the delicate but luxuriant color scheme of the court. The unusual repeated pattern which fills the large wall panels of the towers is worthy of attention.
The architect of the court was George W. Kelham.
Sculpture. The only really important statue in the court is that which stands at the opening on the Avenue of Palms-called The End of the Trail. An Indian, bowed at last under the storm, sits astride a dejected horse utter weariness, discouragement, lost hope, expressed in every line of man and animal. Some see in the statue only the abject despair of a horse and rider when the consciousness finally comes that the trail is definitely lost in the wilderness; and it is notable enough as an expression of this tragic theme. But others, remembering the history of the Indian, see here an eloquent and pathetic reminder of a race that has seemingly come to the end of its trail. As a portrayal of this racial tragedy the group is even more remarkable than as an expression of the hopelessness of a lost man and horse.