To all the kingdoms of Europe, Christopher Columbus, by an effort of genius and of intrepidity the boldest and most successful that is recorded in the annals of mankind, added a new world.—Ibid.
THE COLUMBUS MONUMENT, Paseo de la Reforma, City of Mexico. Sculptor, M, Cordier.
THE BRONZE DOOR AT WASHINGTON.
This is the main central door of the Capitol at Washington, D. C., and on it is a pictured history of events connected with the life of Columbus and the discovery of America.
The door weighs 20,000 pounds; is seventeen feet high and nine feet wide; it is folding or double, and stands sunk back inside of a bronze casing, which projects about a foot forward from the leaves or valves. On this casing are four figures at the top and bottom, representing Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. A border, emblematic of conquest and navigation, runs along the casing between them.
The door has eight panels besides the semicircular one at the top. In each panel is a picture in alto-relievo.
It was designed by Randolph Rogers, an American, and modeled by him in Rome, in 1858; and was cast by F. Von Muller, at Munich, 1861.
The story the door tells is the history of Columbus and the discovery of America.