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

Page 90 – DETAILS OF THE ” GOLDEN DOORWAY.”

DETAILS OF THE ” GOLDEN DOORWAY.”—The magnificent entrance to the Transportation Building, known popularly as the ” Golden Doorway “—though it was not golden, but green and silver—was not, architecturally considered, complete with the quintuple arches and doorway proper alone, but included, as part of the entrance effects, a system of elaborate lateral ornamentation, the details of which, on one side, are given in the illustration. The treatment on the other side of the archway was the same. There is a sugges-tion of the ecclesiastical in the design, as illustrated in the stairs, the gallery and the oratory. The delicate work on the tympanum over the doorway is well defined in the illustration, as are also the bas-reliefs indicative of the structure’s uses which appear beneath the balcony. The small panes of glass showing in the glimpse afforded of the window in the rear add to the ecclesiastical idea already mentioned. In all this delicate work the staff used showed its adaptability for such ends and added to its admitted reputation as the best known material when only temporary architectural and artistic effects are to be produced on a scale of any magnitude. That the lateral embellishment served to increase the general striking effect of the so-called ” Golden Doorway ” was admitted, and that this side work was, in its way, quite as original in adaptation and rich in feature was also the opinion of good authorities. It was conceded that, such elaboration once attempted, should be carried out to its logical fullness.

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