like a flower from a pedestal on which are seen, like roots, vaguely
outlined, the faces of her ancestors. She is Youth, the center of life,
for which the world, its dreams and its rewards are made. The side
panels show the ships of life laden with the aged and manned by
infants, off on the sea of time on the endless quests upon which youth
and desire for its fulfillment's keep the world launched. However, the
enduring charm of the fountain certainly comes from the little-girlhood
of the central figure, the gentle, expectant sweetness of waning
childhood and the perfect purity of the emotion it produces.



Fountain of El Dorado
Colonnade, Tower of Jewels



Within the West colonnade of the Tower of Jewels is the other fountain
desired by all the world - the Fountain of El Dorado. Like the Fountain
of Youth it is connected by legend with early Spanish exploration in
America. Long ago, the story goes, there lived in Mexico or South
America a golden king who scattered treasures along his path. El Dorado
and his realm have long been symbols of the elusive gold sought by
mankind in all ages and every clime.

In this fountain by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, it is not the mere
possession of wealth that is so sought, but those joys of which our
mistaken imaginings make gold the symbol. In the central composition
here pictured, the Gilded One has vanished through the portals.
Impersonal, unresponsive attendants in Aztec garb guard the door from