unity results.

The architecture, as a whole, is early Roman, with traces of the finer
Greek influences. In general treatment, there is a suggestion of the
Temple of the Sun at Athens, while much of the detail was inspired by
the Choragic monument of Lysicrates, also at Athens.

The rotunda is Roman in conception, Greek in decorative treatment. By
its sheer nobility of form and of proportion, and by its enchantment of
color and sculptured ornament, it dominates the entire landscape. The
high spiritual quality of the architect's conception culminates in the
Shrine of Inspiration, directly in front of the rotunda, as seen from
across the laguna, where kneels Ralph Stackpole's lovely figure of "Art
Tending the Fires of Inspiration," exquisite in its simplicity and
delicate charm.



Palace of Fine Arts
The Peristyle and Laguna

On either side of the central rotunda the peristyle of the Palace of
Fine Arts encircles the shore of the laguna in a long semi-circle,
formed of a row of Corinthian columns their pale green simulating
age-stained marble. At each extremity of the colonnade and at intervals
throughout its length are groups of four larger columns, in ochre, each
group surmounted by a great box, designed to hold flowers and vines.
Panels simulating pale green, veined marble are inset in these
receptacles and at their corners are drooping women's figures by Ulric
H. Ellerhusen representing Contemplation. Between the columns, at their