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A LEFT-EYED VIEW
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The use of my new wide-angle lens allowed me to capture the entire Tiffany dome inside the Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, formerly the Chicago Public Library's Main Branch.
Inlaid in the oblong archways seen here are mosaics which identify the surnames of authors and philosophers like Voltaire, Goethe, Schiller, Cervantes, Galileo, Tasso and Dante. Subsequent to the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 held in Chicago, it was boasted that this room was "by far the most extensive piece of wall-mosaic work undertaken since the decoration of the cathedral at Monreale, Sicily, in the 13th century." Everything seen above the arches is mosaic artistry. Below the arches, the marble walls are accented with mosaic details, such as the details seen here and here.
It was nice to capture the chandelier in this shot to give it and the dome some scale. Previous captures (without a wide-angle lens) made it seem quite large and dwarfed the size of the dome. Along the bottom of the dome’s entire perimeter is a phrase by Joseph Addison (1672-1719) written in Roman lettering: “Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.”
Photo taken February 5, 2010.
New photos posted on most Mondays through Thursdays.
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@Self-Indulgence: I felt it, but thought it was my furnace. I was surprised by what I heard on NBC 5 this morning and when they said what time it hit, it put me at rest that it wasn't my furnace.
@Curly: I did lay on my back in previous visits when I didn't have a wide-angle lens. Those captures were linked to under "Previous captures" above. I have been fortunate enough lately to not find the room roped off to the general public. That was always a "downer" after driving 35 miles into Chicago.