It had been intended for the Court of the Universe, while Douglas
Tilden's group of "Modern Civilization" was to have stood before the
Palace of Machinery. When this was not completed, the Exposition wisely
decided that the great court already had enough statuary, and ordered
French's group erected in its place.

According to French himself, this group might well have been called "The
Angel of Generation." The winged figure, neither male nor female, but
angelic, is veiled, suggesting the creative impulse as a blind command
from unknown sources. The arms are raised in a gesture of creative
command. It has wings, said French, because. both art and the conception
demanded these spiritual symbols. The man and woman against the rock
whereon the angel sits are emblems of the highest types created. The man
looks upward and outward with one hand clenched, ready to grapple with
life. The woman reaches out for sympathy and support; her fingers find
this in the hand of the man at the back of the rock. Man and woman are
encircled by the snake, the earliest symbol of eternity and
reproduction, a figure appearing, curiously enough, in every religion,
and with much the same significance.

Without ignoring the majesty of the exterior, glowing with color and
adorned with statuary, it may be said that the real nobility of this
great structure appears in the splendid timber work of the interior.
Here, where every bone and rib of the huge hall stands bare as the
builders left it, is a note of true grandeur. The long rows of great
timbered columns, the lofty arches that spring from them, the almost
endless vista of truss and girder, tell of vastness that cannot be
expressed by the finished architecture outside. The finest character of
the palace is within. From the outside it is a great and
well-proportioned hall. Within it becomes a vast cathedral, dedicated to