House and Garden 
the selected design. But 
the one which was executed 
in the manner shown by the 
accompanying illustrations 
is the last of several schemes 
which this firm elaborated 
to suit in turn the different 
sites successively oflered by 
the City. The selection of 
the present site was made 
by the officials of the Park 
Board and the architects, 
approved by the City and 
the Art Commission, and 
maintained by the Com¬ 
missioners of the Monu¬ 
ment in spite of considerable 
private opposition, as, had 
this location also been relin¬ 
quished, there appeared act¬ 
ually to be no other appro¬ 
priate place in the City. In 
view of this difficulty in 
placing the Monument at 
least two truths were borne 
home to all: that few really 
good monumental sites exist 
THE PLAN OF THE MONUMENT 
SHOWING RELATION TO THE SITE 
belvidere on the north and 
to the lower terraces on the 
south, which serve as points 
of view for the surrounding 
landscape and for the Mon¬ 
ument itself. Their pave¬ 
ments of yellow brick in 
patterns, surrounded by 
marble bands, form a con¬ 
trast to the unbroken color 
of the Monument, and they 
give an effect of ample space 
and adequate architectural 
setting to the whole group, 
undisturbed by any trivial 
details likely to diminish 
the scale and injure the 
large effect of the whole. 
The composition is simple 
and dignified; without ob¬ 
trusive symbolism of war 
or of death, marble cannon¬ 
balls or stands ot arms. 
The interior is in the 
form of a circular domed 
chamber with niches around 
it. Light is received from 
in New York, and that they are impossible above, through the eye of the dome from 
to create in a city whose streets have been a single window in the south in the cella 
originally laid out without regard to future walls; and is reflected downward by a glazed 
ornamental spaces. tile Guastavino vault which forms the ceiling 
The design, as it has now been carried out, above. There is no stairway or access for 
has a strong vertical 
movement expressed 
its high base and 
in 
Corinthian order, with 
an elaborate cresting 
and visible conical roof 
above, crowned by a 
richly decorated finial 
—all of white marble. 
Its mass is in fact near¬ 
ly three diameters high. 
1 he spreading granite 
base stands upon a cir¬ 
cular platform of a di¬ 
ameter equal to the 
total height, and which 
serves to extend the 
base and to bring the 
Monument firmly 
down to the ground. 
Wide steps lead to the 
A VIEW ON THE SOUTHERN APPROACHES 
35 
