The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-06-14
&o ne. Kz2ERERT FU'1E1Xl4H

soles, IN front of each and almost de-
tached from it stand out the sculptured figures,
IN pairs of the goddess Minerva, one Of War.
and the other Of Peace
FROM this vestlbule Is entered the staircase
nall, an apartment unsurpassed In magnid-
oence and artistic beauty by any entrance hall
IN the world. 1t Is truly "a vision in polished
stone" with its vaulted ceiling u feet high,
Its sides lined throughout with fine Italian
MARBLE highly polished, while on the sides rise
pairs Of magnificent marble columns with
deliberately carved Corinthian capitals. Through
the Intervening spaces are seen glimpses Of
the rich coloring Of the mural paintings and
the glittering gold Of the ceiling decorations
of the vaulted arches and galleries of the Sec
ond floor.
The grand double staircase with white
marble balustrades, one on the north and the
other on the south side Of the hall, has prob
ably no equal In the western hemisphere. The
newell posts, richly decorated with festoons
of flowers and leaves, are surmounted by two
huge bronze figures Of classically draped won.
en- holding aloft a cluster of electric lights.
The staircases are highly ornamented with
miniature marble figures carved in relief rep
resenting In emblematic sculpture tho vari.
GUS arts and sciences. On the buttress Of the
south stairway are the sculptured figures rep
resenting America and Africa supporting be-
tween them globe showing these continents,
while on the north side similar group repre-
sents Europe and Asia.
This spacious and magnifcently decorated
hall, taken in connection with the grand CORR
doris and the deliberately and artistically eEe-
bellished reading room, furnish the fines:
marble interior in America.
From the east corridor stairway ascends
to the balcony Of the reading room. On the
wall Of the landing of this stairway is beau
tiful mosaic of Minerva, the goddress of wis.,
dom, by Elihu Vedder Entering the visitors
gallery an excellent view Is afforded Of this
spacious rotunda or main reading room. Its
vastness is but dimly appreciate from the
bare statement that it Is 100 feet in diameter
and 125 feet in height and that the pillars are
40 feet high and the windows % feet wide.
One OF Its chief beauties is the harmonious
blending Of the rich co1oring effected by the
dark Tennessee, the red Numidian and the
yellow shades of Sienna marbles, accumulated
by the old ivory of the stucco ornamentation
Of the dome. Upon the eight immense piers
supporting the dome are placed female figures
OF colossal stature, above each being q quota
ton relative to the phase Of learning or
achievement further represented by the 16
bronze statues standing in the gallery, two in
each Of the great arches which encircle the
room. In these statues Religion is represent
ed by Moses and Saint Paul; Commerce by Co.
lumbus and Fulton; History by Herodotus and
Gibbon; Art by Michael Angelo and Beetho-
ven; Philosophy by Plato and Bacon; Poetry
by Homer and Shakespeare; Law by Scion
Kent; Science by Newton and Henry
In the collar of the dome, which is $50 feet
In circumference. is q symbolism of the twelve
nations and epochs which have contributed to
the advance of the world, each represented as
q seated figure bearing the emblems suggestive
Of its peculiar attribute ERvDt renresenta
Written Records; Judea, Religion: Greece.