staircase of the new Hôtel de Ville.

PALACES OF THE LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS.

The two Palaces of the Fine Arts and the Liberal Arts are of equal
dimensions and similar aspect. They cover an area of 21,000 square
metres. They are composed of a large central nave, measuring 209.31
metres in length by a width of fifty-three metres and one-half. The nave
is surrounded with galleries on the lower floor and first story. On the
garden under the porticos are restaurants. Each of these palaces is
connected with the Industrial section of the foreign countries by a
large vestibule thirty metres wide by 115 in length, one of which, that
of the Fine Arts, contains the exhibition of sculpture, and the other
contains a large part of the musical instruments. These two palaces are
entirely of iron, terra-cotta and ceramic work. The entrance is executed
by a large porch of three arches, and the wings on either side are
pierced by wide bays. Each is crowned with a dome fifty-five metres high
and thirty-two in width. These two palaces are striking examples of the
richness which can be introduced in a moment by the artistic employment
of terra-cotta and ceramic work, especially when the ceramic artists
bear such names as Müller, Loebnitz and Parvillée, to say nothing of MM.
Bréult, Boulanger and Mortreux, whose work we met in the ceramic
division, or which we shall meet in our walks through the foreign
pavilions. With M. Müller, who has given his name to a kind of brick
covered with enamel on one of its faces, ceramic work becomes a portion
of the very fabric itself as well as of its ornamentation. This
principle applied with rare talent to the covering of the two domes of
the palaces has given a very curious and interesting result. This
covering is composed of enamelled tiles of more than 600 varieties which
are not superposed one upon another, but butt together side by side, and