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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[April, 



riodical national associations should be held, having for a principal 

 object, the admission of a new bust, and the solemn inauguration cf a 

 new hero to the halls of the Walhalla. On such an occasion a pro- 

 cessional train would ascend the steps to the first terrace. Here the 

 inaugural bust would be taken from the Hall of Expectation, which 

 would be appropriately decorated for the occasion, and from thence 

 be bcrne in procession to the next terrace, and so carried into the tem- 

 ple. Upon opening the great bronze doors the procession would be 

 received by a chorus of singers, who would remain unseen in the gal- 

 lery. Spectators would be permitted only in the gallerv and passages, 

 and the hall remain consequently quite free for the train, which would 

 proceed in choragic order to the place appointed for the reception of 

 the bust. 



It was important that the interior decoration should tend to pro- 

 mote in the spectator the frame of mind which the foregoing cere- 

 mony had awakened, and therefore it was the desire of the accom- 

 plished founder of the Walhalla, that the aid of rich descriptive 

 sculpture and ornament should be called in as the most effective 

 means of so doing. In the mythology of our forefathers the Walky- 

 riae were beautiful maidens, whose duty it was to bear dying heroes 

 from the field of battle to the palace of Odin, there to be entertained 

 with never-ending banquets, and to dwell for ever in the paradise of 

 the valiant. 



Statues of these beautiful companions of the beatified German 

 heroes, have been employed as caryatides, to avoid the multiplica- 

 tion of severe architectural tonus, which are apt to produce mechani- 

 cal plainness, and also, in order to relieve the monotony produced 

 by so large a number of busts. Tiiese Walkyren caryatides, sculp- 

 tured in marble by L. Schwanthaler, are habited, as near as is known, 

 in the ancient German costume, and are employed to support the 

 cornice and roof. The heroes of the Walhalla are necessarily divided 

 into two classes, namely, those who from the want of existing por- 

 traits are recorded only by name, and those of whom busts are really 

 extant. To the first of these is allotted the upper division of the 

 inner compartments of the walls, and their names are inscribed in the 

 spaces between the fourteen caryatides. The busts in a double row, 

 partly upon a continued pedestal, partly upon projecting marble bear- 

 ers, are divided into six classes, over each of which presides a female 

 therm-shaped statue, sculptured by Rauch, and having reference to 

 the class over which she presides. 



In order to complete the allegorical sculpture, the interior pedi- 

 ments formed by the horizontal beams, and the sloping roof, are en- 

 riched by three sculptured bas-reliefs, in which are represented the 

 three principal epochs of the northern mythology. In the first is 

 seen the giant Ymer, bom of the moisture engendered by the hot 

 wind from Muspelheim and the cold mists from Nifelheim, and from 

 his shoulders spring the first human beings, Askar and Embla. Near 

 him are the Lord of Muspelheim, Surtur the god of light and warmth, 

 and Hela the goddess of Nifelheim, Foliage of the ash and elm * 

 fill up the angles of the pediment. In the seeu:. appeal 



the principal inhabitants of Asgar 1 ; Odin with his spear Gugner 

 and Frigga with her golden spindle, seated upon their throne Lidskjolf ; 

 on the right is Thur with his terrible hammer Mibmer, striking the 

 Roman eagle to fragments, and Baldur the youthful god of Elo- 

 quence. On the left Braga the god of wisdom and poetry with his 

 goddess Iduna, who, like the Greek Eebe in Olympus, pres -i 

 heroes of the Walhalla v% it li" the golden apples of immortality. The 

 ravens of Odin fill up the angles. The centre of the third pediment 

 is filled with the mighty ash tree Ydrasil, on the summit of which 

 the eagle of Odin spiea is his wings. Beneath the roots flows the 

 fountain of wisdom, with which the tree is watered by the tl:ree 

 Nornies. In the angles are the squirrels Rotatoskr. 



Beneath this and between the upper and lower orders, is introduced 

 a large bas-relief in eight divisions, which, according to the command 

 of the royal founder of the Walhalla, illustrates the history of the 

 German nation from its earliest period to the introduction of Christi- 

 anity, and was designed and executed in white marble by Martin von 

 4 These were sacred trets. 



Wagner in Rome. This admirable work, 224 ft. in length and 3 ft. 

 6 in. high, embraces the following eight principal events. 1st. The 

 peopling of Germany by settlers from the east and the Caucasian 

 couutries. A mighty train, in long procession, of wild but beautiful 

 forms, preceded by warriors, followed by their wives and children, 

 and closed by shepherds, are represented passing the river Ister, and 

 engaged in subduing the bear and wild boar, the sole inhabitants of 

 the forests of Germany. In the second division is represented the 

 religi in and occupations of our ancestors. In tlie midst a religious 

 ceremony is being solemnized under a large oak, and horses are being 

 offered in sacrifice. Bards are chauntiog the mysteries of the reli- 

 gious rites ; and a troop of young warriors is impatiently awaiting 

 the completion of their shields, which an artist is emploved in deco- 

 rating. The third division represents the political ar.d commercial 

 doings of our aucestors ; the choice of a leader, the first council of 

 the chosen king with his people, and the intercourse and commerce 

 of the Phoenicians with the northern nations. In the 4th, 5th, and 

 6th, are represented the contests between the Germans and the Ro- 

 man empire. In the 7th, the conquest of Rome by Alarle ; and the 

 introduction of Christianity by the fervent preaching of the holy 

 Boniface, in the Stb division, concludes the bas-relief. 



Respecting the ornament employed, it may be remarked, that 

 without abandoning the long sanctioned Greek contour of form, the 

 architect has employed foliage of German growth, assimilating it as 

 far as possible with the Greek character. 



As the adoption of classical architecture was expressly enjoined in 

 the instructions tor the edifice, it became necessary to follow what is 

 believed to have been the practice of the Greeks, and unite the charm 

 of colour to that of form. But the architect considers that the strik- 

 ing means which the Greeks employed to distinguish the outlines of 

 their mouldings and members, rendered beautiful and necessary be- 

 neath the brilliant skies of Greece, on account of the clearness and 

 light of their atmosphere, is not admissible ou external architecture 

 in a northern climate. The interior lithuc-hromic decoration, is as 

 follows: lu the ceiling, those parts of the metal construction winch 

 are visible, are entirely gilt. The coffers of the ceiling, as well as 

 the soffit of the beams, are coloured azure, and ornamented with stars 

 of white gold or platina, with which, also, all rosettes, screw heads, 

 and fir cones used in the construction are covered. The mouldings of 

 the o tiers and panels are likewise gilt and ornamented with coloured 

 foliage. The sculpture and ornamental foliage which fill up the pedi- 

 ment shaped supports of the roof, are pierced and open, and of light 

 form, that they may not appear to overload this essential part of the 

 construction. They are partly of white aud gold, and partly coloured 

 after the manner of classic sculpture. The carved members of the 

 cornice of the upper order, which is of white veined marble, is also 

 partly gilt and partly coloured. The frieze is azure, with oak wreaths 

 of bronze gilt. The upper division of the walls is of a reddish brown 

 marble, from the quarries of Oberfranken : the inscription tablets of 

 white marble, the letters of gilt bronze. The Walkyren caryatides 

 of marble of the Danube are entirely but very faintly coloured. The 

 parts representing flesh are ivory colour, the hair fair brown, the bear 

 skin mantle eutireiy gilt, the upper dress bright violet, the under robe 

 v bite. The plinth upon which the figures stand is of a warm grey 

 Lumachelli marble: the entire entablature, and the long bas-relief, in 

 tlie frieze, is of white marble, pait from Sehlanders, part from Car- 

 rara. The carved architrave and cornice are brought out in colour 

 and gold, the relief quite white, and the ground of the ornaments in 

 the frieze azure. The lower division of the principal walls, as well 

 us the pilasters and shafts oi the columns, are of brownish red marble 

 from Adruet, resembling the antique African. The caps and bases of 

 the columns and pilasters are of white marble, ornamented with 

 colour and gold. The carved bearers of the busts, the busts them- 

 selves, and the six presiding statues, together with all cantilevers and 

 se its c instituting the furniture of the hall, are of white marble 

 without colour or gilding. As the busts could not with propriety 

 have been coloured, it would have been prejudicial to them to have 

 employed gilding or colouring in the sculpture of which th orm a 



