PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS

Page 54 – THE FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION

FACADE OF THE FRENCH SECTION.—Among the various magnificent national displays made in the Manufactures Building that of France ranked with the greatest, either exteriorly considered or with regard to the works and products on exhibition. The section was on the east side of the north and south thoroughfare, known as Columbia Avenue, and at its junction with the main division east and west, France occupying the southeast corner diagonally across from Germany. The illustration gives the facade and portal of the pavilion with the big clock tower which stood in the center of the building showing a little to the left. The ornamentation about the arch and entrance is plainly indicated, and there is a view of the Statue of the French Republic, which was the first and most imposing object to command attention on entering. A minor piece of statuary was a chanticleer, “The Gallic Cock,” upon the pedestal, supporting which where carved representations of historic scenes and incidents of the French Revolution. The archway was ornamented with finely carved caryatides and the columns of the entrance were not less gracefully embellished. The frieze over the entrance was a particularly exquisite piece of work. Inside the section might risk comparison with any in the Exposition. Its scope was broad, the exhibits of remarkable quality, while the arrangement was such as to produce a complete harmony, something not duly observed in even more pretentious exhibits in the building. Three rooms in the section were reproductions of salons of the time of Louis XIV and Louis XV.

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