progress, effort-so insistently emphasized elsewhere-are left
behind, and everything breathes a sense of peace and orderliness, of
things happening all in good season.

The primary idea underlying the decorative features of the court is
sufficiently indicated in the name, "The Four Seasons;" and this idea is
symbolically expressed in the sculpture and mural paintings in the four
corners of the colonnade. But a study of the other decorations shows
that the idea of abundance, or fruitfulness, was equally in the minds of
architect and sculptors. The purely architectural ornaments, such as the
capitals and the running borders, employ the symbols of agriculture and
fruitfulness, while no less than five of the main sculptural groups or
figures deal directly with harvest themes.

Architecture

The style of architecture is in general Roman. The half-dome and the
colonnades are almost severely classic. The column capitals are Ionic.
But in the freedom of some of the architectural forms, particularly in
the archways at east and west, there is a suggestion of Renaissance
influence. The plan with its four cut-corners with fountains, and its
half-dome facing down the long colonnade to the bay, is ingenious. The
half-dome itself, dominating feature of the court, is exceptionally
dignified and impressive. To obtain the best view of it as a single
unit, one should stand between two columns of the colonnade near either
the Fountain of Summer or the Fountain of Autumn-as from these points
the eye is not carried through the doorway at the back of the dome, to
the detriment of a unified impression.

Henry Bacon is the architect who designed the Court of the Four Seasons.