I have taken the liberty of culling the chief ideas from the article on the subject, written for the November "International Studio," adding a few ideas which seem consistent with the work before us.
This fountain, done in pierced relief, is most decorative in the Court of the Ages. It is, from a technical standpoint, a most remarkable composition.
The next subject for study is The Tower. Notice the small spire atop. It is like a fleche on a French cathedral and helps in the French feeling which you had when you thought that you had discovered the flamboyant style, and yet, on the whole, it is more the style of Spanish towers than of the French.
Most of the figure work on the tower is by Chester Beach, formerly of San Francisco.
The groups on the tower are now to be considered.
The combined work is called The Rise of Civilization.
The lowest group is Primitive Man during that period when great reptiles, like the saurian in the foreground, crept over the earth; when man fought with huge serpents and gigantic lions.
The rude man in the center has his child on one arm, the other arm protecting his mate (not an ordinary position for the arm of primitive man).
You easily surmise that trouble is near. His look of dogged defiance tells you that he is marching forth to meet some enemy, man or beast.
This is the first march of civilization - one in which brute strength plays the princ.i.p.al part.
Just above, you notice that civilization has now reached the mediaeval stage and you see the Crusader with cross on breast and sword in hand.
He has reached this lofty position thru faith (represented by the priest) and war (suggested by the rude warrior). The spiritual has now been added to the physical.
At the side of the tower, holding the same position on the tower as does the Crusader, are suggestions of the crusader"s tomb such as one sees in many of the English churches. The Crusader pa.s.ses on and his place is taken by more advanced types.
On either side of the Crusader appears the paschal candlestick (which at night is illuminated).
You are approaching the altar.
Above is the Priestess of Religion, with the nimbus surrounding her head. At her feet are children holding, one a book, indicating faith, and the other the wheel, meaning progress.
Around the court, on the highest pinnacles, are c.o.c.ks, signifying the dawn of Christianity (in reference to Peter"s denying Christ).
Come back to the tower and you will notice a man and a woman on either side of the altar. They are rising from the primitive man and the primitive woman at their feet. They represent the man and the woman of today. In the case of the man, you will notice how primitive man holds on to him and how the man of today endeavors to shake him off. (The man of today, by the power of thought, is trying to shake the rude brutish nature off.)
(These figures are by Albert Weinert.)
Primitive Man and Primitive Woman, by Albert Weinert, are seen as finials around the court. He is a simple hunter, or a man whose pastime consists in such amus.e.m.e.nt as feeding fish to the pelican. She is a woman whose chief work is to rear children.
Leo Lentelli"s Aquatic Maids are grouped at the bases of the columns in front of the tower. It was at first planned to have the fountains play to the tops of the columns on which sit the aquatic maids shooting their arrows into the waters, but a change in the plans left the aquatic maids high and dry, hence your wonderment at why they sit aloft.
(Leo Lentelli was born in Bologna, Italy, but now lives in New York).
The Italian cypresses, tall and slender, stand like sentinels in front of the arches.
Orange trees, ten feet in height, heavy with fruit, stand in opulence before the cypresses.
Balled acacias, with repeated regularity of shape, produce in this charming cloister a delightful formalism.
Solid beds of pink hyacinths add a glowing touch of color in this beauteous garden.
The creeping juniper is the border used.
The cistus is the border used around the other beds. Under the trees are planted calceolarias, gebara, Shasta daisies, potentilla, columbine, and many other showy flowers.
The conventional standards at the south end of the cloister are aids in the illumination.
This court is most beautiful at night.
The tower, in white light, has the glowing candlesticks in striking evidence.
Great clouds of seeming incense rise constantly from the altars ranged around the court. Fiery serpents belch fire into the basins below.
Beneath the world and around it rises the steam, which is marvelously illuminated.
The North Court of the Ages
Eucalypti, acacias, English laurel and veronicas are banked close together in this court. Great beds of orange eschscholtzia, the California poppy, make this court a veritable Field of the Cloth of Gold.
The creeping juniper is the border used.
Sherry Fry"s "Listening to the Sound of the Ages" stands in this court with her sh.e.l.l to her ear. She listens to the stories that the sea has told the sh.e.l.l, and wonderful, very wonderful, is what she hears.
Since the first issue of this book I have received in written form Mr.
Mullgardt"s own wonderful interpretation, which I hereby append with his kind permission. I shall not correct my work, for it will be interesting to compare the work of a layman with that of the initiated:
San Francisco, April 19, 1915.
The Court of the Ages A Sermon in Stone
"The Court of the Ages" is 340 feet square. The surrounding walls are 75 feet high. The Tower is 200 feet high. The floor of the Court declines to the central Basin, affording the observer a full view of the surroundings. The arcaded and vaulted Ambulatory extends continuously around the four sides. The floor of this Ambulatory is elevated above the upper floor level of the Court for the convenience of observers. Its architecture has not been accredited to any established style.