The Palace of Fine Arts
was another lasting memory and example of lavish decoration of
the Exposition,with its intricate murals and designs. "When
entering, one has the feelingthat this great temple is a realized
dream; that it was imagined irrespectiveof time, cost, or demand."
(Nevhavs 17). The theme is of a Roman ruin, and is Greek in decorative
treatment (Palace of Fine Arts History). It held an
exhibition hall to house the work of living artists, a colonnade,
and a
rotunda (Palace of Fine Arts History). "One forgets the proximity
of everyday
things when entering the colonnade" (Rydell 17), as one is
immediately in a
religious atmosphere, with a "delicate shrine of worship"
right beneath the
dome (Rydell 17). The spiritual quality puts the visitors into
"the proper
frame of mind for the enjoyment of the art in the building."
(Rydell 17).
There were two main murals in the Palace of Fine Arts; one of
the birth of
European art, with the sacred fire being stolen by an earthly
messenger, and
the birth of Oriental art, with the "forces of earth wresting
inspiration
from the air." (Nevhavs 58). By the closing of the Exposition,
a movement to
preserve the palace was already underway (Palace of Fine Arts
History), and
it still stands in San Francisco today.
