The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-20
MERCHANTS EXCHANGE
FREsCOES RESTORED
Renovation of Allegorical Pictures
in Large Hall Almost
Completed.
ORIGINAL COST WAS $4,000.
Son Of One of the Artists Who
Executed the Work
Has Preserved Its
Beauty.

The restoration eff thu frescoes on the
ceiling Of the Merchants Exchange is about
finished. and now the allegorical pictures,
which typify the wealth and greatness Of
the Mississippi Valley. stand out with the
ciearaess and beauty that characteristics
them upon their completion almost thirty
years ago
The building Itself will share in the gen
eral renovation planned by the exchange,
and the exterior viii be reprinted, new Gle
vators installed. and the convcniences will
have modern setting.
The ST. Louis Merchants Exchange is the
largest room of its kind in the United
States where the broad expanse of ceiling
and floor room is not INSTRUCTED by pillars
or supports.
This feature gives TO the vast hall 4
majesty of grace that is not found in more
modern structures. With the height of
sol feet, the spread of ceiling presents
ap expanse of 5ox225 feet.
Divided into three sections. the ceiling
consists Of three medallions of noble pro-
portions. The bright colors of these fres-
Goes became dinlmed by time. and at length
it was decided to restore them to their orig
inal splendor.
SIX MONTHS LABOR.
The frescoes We're executed by Becker &
Seiepcevich, and by an appropriate coiuci-
dent the restoration of the work was in
trusted to the son of the senior member of
the firm. Winner A. Becker has had the
pleasure of. perpetuatins the work that
was largely executed by his father
The original cost of the frescoes was sl0,
them. The central figure OF the main me
: GALLON typifies st. Louis. the great city of
5 the West She is surrounded by figures rep
resenting the agricultural. mining and IN
Z dustrial interests of the Mississippi Valley.
= The group OF figures TO the north repre-
sents ene four quarters of the earth bring
1 ing their various offerings to the West
which. with outstretched arms offers its
produce in exchange. With the Mississippi
River outlined in the south of the picture
two figures complete the medallion.
The two end sections of the ceiling are
divided economically in imitation of stucco,
each containing four panels. with represen-
: State of Missouri The centers of these two
i sections each have medallions 26x26 feet.
!, ALL COUNTRIES REPRESENTED.
3 The medallion on the north end represents
( types of European nations, England, Ger
& many. Italy. France. Scotland and ireland
forming center group. surrounded by Rus
STA Switzerland. Spain, Turkey and Greece.
= Asia and Africa. Arabia. Egypt Judea-
I China and Japan, forming the center. while
EtnlOpla. tSaucaSSla- 1nula. PERSIA, -AbsS-
: sffiia and Mongolia surround them.
y The cornice surrounding the ceiling forms
Ia border twenty feet wide about the whole
I In this border are given the names of all
z all the States of the Union, ana the mer-
D chants flags of the world are given in panel
! work.
S The grand hall IS finished in Walnut.
D mahogany and other hard woods There
s has been no general change in the arrange
Il ment of the hall. except that the large
9 fountain that once adorned the center of
q the floor has been removed
= The hall OF the Merchants Exchange was
, for many years the largest and finest in the
> United States. and to-day, with its 20.00O
s square feet. it is the third largest CONNER
:. cial hall IN the country. The New York
SProduce Exchange has floor space of g.
900 feet. and the Chicago Chamber of Com
merce of 300 feet.
On account of the unobstruction of the
hail by pillars and supports. mentioned
above, the ST. Louis Merchants Exchange
is considered the most impressive and
beautiful hall of commerce in America.
The cost of the improvements and reno
vations now under way in the Merchants
Exchange building will amount to about
S35c00.