第 15 节
作者:冬恋      更新:2021-02-21 11:15      字数:9322
  uite represents the vigorous type that came over the plains in the prairie schooner。 However; just as she is; she is fine; and she has a strong hand that looks as if it had been made for spanking。 I wonder why the sculptor gave her that kind of head…covering。 She might have appeared to better advantage bare…headed。 The children are excellent。 Observe the bright outlook of the boy and the timid attitude of the girl。 There's a fine tenderness in the care the girl is getting from her mother and from the boy; too; suggesting dawning manhood。 Altogether; the group has nobility and it's worthy of being a permanent monument for San Francisco。 By the way; there's the old Roman idea of the decorative use of the bull's head again; at the base of the group。 It has a very happy application here。 It reminds us of the oxen that helped to get the Easterners out to California in the old days before the railroads。 A good many of them must have dropped in their tracks and left their skulls to bleach in the sun。〃
  The other ornamental design we found very appropriate and direct; as we studied the pedestal。 There was the ship that used to go round the horn; with the torches that suggested civilization; and; at the back of the pedestal; the flaming sun that celebrated the Golden Gate。
  In the rotunda we found Paul Bartlett; represented again by the equestrian statue of Lafayette; in full uniform; advancing sword in the air。 It unquestionably had a magnificent setting; though it suffered by being surrounded by so many disturbing interests。 〃The director of the Fine Arts Department cared enough about this figure to have it duplicated for the Exposition。 It's a good example of the old…fashioned heroic sculpture; where the subjects take conventional dramatic attitudes。〃
  The ceiling of the rotunda displayed those much…discussed murals by Robert Reid。 Up there they seemed like pale reflections。 〃You should have seen them when they were in Machinery Hall。 Then they were magnificent。 But the instant they were put in place it was plain that the effect had been miscalculated。 At night; under the lighting; they show up better。 Judged by themselves; apart from their surroundings; they are full of inspiration and poetry。 Only a man of genuine feeling and with a fine color…sense could have done them。 But in all this splendor of architecture they are lost。〃
  On examining them in detail we found that they covered an extraordinarily wide range of fancy; graceful and dramatic; even while; save in one panel; they showed an indifference to story…telling。 One group celebrated 〃The Birth of European Art;〃 with the altar and the sacred flame; tended by a female guardian and three helpers; and with a messenger reaching from his chariot to seize the torch of inspiration and to bear it in triumph through the world; the future intimated by the crystal held in the hands of the woman at the left。 Another; 〃The Birth of Oriental Art;〃 told the ancient legend of a Chinese warrior who; seated on the back of a dragon; gave battle to an eagle; the symbol relating to man's seeking inspiration from the air。 〃Ideals in Art〃 brought forward more or less familiar types: the Madonna and the Child; Joan of Arc; Youth and Beauty; in the figure of a girl; Vanity in the Peacock; with more shadowy intimations in two mystical figures in the background; the tender of the sacred flame and the bearer of the palm for the dead; and the laurel…bearer ready to crown victory。 〃The Inspiration in All Art〃 revealed the figures of Music; Architecture; Painting; Poetry and Sculpture。 Four other panels glorified the four golds of California; gold; wheat; poppies and oranges; a happy idea; providing opportunities for the splendid use of color。
  〃It's a pity those murals couldn't have been tried out up there and then taken down and done over;〃 said the architect。 〃But sometime they will find the place where they belong; perhaps in one of our San Francisco public buildings。 They're too good not to have the right kind of display。〃
  〃The Priestess of Culture;〃 by Herbert Adams; one of the best…known of American sculptors; eight times repeated; we felt; had its rightful place up there and blended into the general architectural scheme。 But some of the other pieces of statuary might have been left out with advantage。
  Through the columns we caught many beautiful vistas。 And those groups of columns themselves made pictures。 〃What is most surprising about this palace is the way it grows on you。 The more familiar you are with it the more you feel the charm。 Maybeck advises his friends to come here by moonlight when they can get just the effect he intended。 In all the Exposition there's no other spot quite so romantic。 It might have been built for lovers。〃
  XI
  At the Palace of Horticulture
  At the Palace of Horticulture the architect said: 〃Here is the Mosque of Ahmed the First; taken from Constantinople and adapted to horticulture and to the Exposition。 It has a distinct character of its own。 It even has temperament。 So many buildings that are well proportioned give the impression of being stodgy and dull。 They are like the people that make goodness seem uninteresting。 But here is use that expresses itself in beauty and adorns itself with appropriate decoration。〃
  When I mentioned that some people found this building too ornate; the architect replied:
  〃There's an intimate and appropriate relation between the ornament and the architecture。 Personally I shouldn't care to see just this kind of building in the heart of the city; where you'd have it before your eyes every day。 But for the Exposition it's just right。 And how fitting it is that the splendid dome should be the chief feature of a building that is really an indoor garden and that the most prominent note of the coloring should be green; nature's favorite and most joyous color。 Some joker;〃 he went on; 〃says that this Exposition is domicidal。 He expresses a feeling a good many people have here; that there are too many domes。 But I don't agree。 The domes make a charming pictorial effect; and they harmonize with the general spirit of the architecture。 And as for this dome; it is one of the greatest in the world。 See how cleverly the architects; following the spirit of the French Renaissance; have used those ornamental shafts。 The only criticism that can be made on them is that they serve no architectural purpose; which ought; of course; always to be intimately associated with use。 Instead of growing from the nature of the building; they are put on from outside。 Now; in the mosque they were very important in their service。 They were the minarets where the Muezzins used to stand in order to call the faithful to prayer。 Those minarets up there; carrying on the dome motive; on the corners of the walls of the main palaces are much closer to the old idea。〃
  Our talk turned to the subject of domes in general。 The idea had come from the bees; from the shape of their hives。 Prehistoric man used for a dwelling…place a hut shaped like a hive; as well as an imitation of a bird's nest。 In formal architecture; the dome showed itself early。 The Greeks knew it; but they didn't use it much。 The greatest users of the dome were the Byzantines。 It was all dome with them。 The first important dome was built in Rome in the second century; to crown the Pantheon。 Of all the domes in the world the most interesting historically was St。 Peter's; the work of several architects。 It was the inspiration of the dome of St。 Paul's in London; built by the English architect; Sir Christopher Wren。 Architecturally the most interesting of the domes was Brunelleschi's; built for the Florence Cathedral in the fifteenth century; known throughout the world by the Italian name for Cathedral; the Duomo。
  It was in connection with the Duomo that the architect reminded me of the celebrated story about Brunelleschi。 When the Florentine church authorities decided to build the Duomo they were puzzled as to how so mighty a dome should be developed。 So they invited the architects to appear before them in competition; and to present their ideas。 One architect; Donatello; explained that; if he secured the commission; he should first build a mound of earth; and over it he would construct his dome。 But the authorities replied that there would be great labor and expense in taking the earth out。 He said that he would put coins into the earth and; by this means; he would very quickly have the earth removed by the people。 When Brunelleschi was asked how he would build his dome he said: 〃How would you make an egg stand on end?〃 They didn't know how; and he showed them; by taking a hard…boiled egg and pressing it down at one end; an idea like the one that occurred to Christopher Columbus about fifty years later。
  The Palace of Horticulture as an illustration of French Renaissance architecture fascinated this observer; in spite of its overelaborateness。 〃It's marvelous to think of what the Renaissance meant throughout Europe;〃 he said; 〃and how it showed itself in art through the national characteristics。 French Renaissance and Italian Renaissance; though they have qualities in common; are very different。 And you'll find marked differences even in the Renaissance art of the Italian cities; such a