The Friendly Lion at the Portal

With all its loveliness of detail and witchery of color, the prevailing
charm of the Court of Flowers, true to its name, lies in the effective
planting of flowers and shrubs. The main path through the Court is
bordered on either side by spreading lophantha trees, trimmed four feet
from the ground and branching to a diameter of five feet in delicate,
lacy foliage. Masses of flowers in the pervading luxuriant color-tone
carpet the whole court with gold, while banks of green fill the corners
and outline the borders. The six "Friendly Lions" with their
conventionalized garlands, by Albert Laessle of Philadelphia, guard the
three entrances, one on either side. "Beauty and the Beast," the central
fountain which dominates the Court, is by Edgar Walters of San Francisco.
The basin is upheld by four alternating fauns and satyrs and about the
base of the fountain is a procession of beasts in low relief. The statue
of "The Pioneer" by Solon Borglum, which stands at the entrance of the
Court, while it bears no relation to the symbolism of the Court itself,
is a companion to "The End of the Trail" which occupies the same position
before the Court of Palms.



Palace of Varied Industries
Main Portal

The central portal on the south facade of the Palace of Varied
Industries is by many considered the finest doorway at the Exposition.
It is a copy of the Hospital of Santa Cruz at Toledo, done in the
Spanish Renaissance, of a style known as the plateresque. The rich
appearance has the effect of being exquisitely chiseled with scroll-like