DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1312#0157
104 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
Besides its superior size and commodiousness, it also possesses, in the spacious park
and grounds that surround it, every opportunity for horticultural and picturesque embel-
lishment, for the gratification of those who, satiated with the splendours of the interior
of the building, may wander forth among the fountains and the groves, the gardens and
the mimic wildernesses that are spread around. In the number of its Courts, too, and
in the treasures of art that it has accumulated from every quarter of the globe where
civilisation has made any progress, it is, beyond all comparison, more comprehensive.
The Nineveh, or Assyrian Court, will be visited with intense interest, unfolding as it does
its wondrous record of remote ages, in colossal monuments, sculptured walls, gigantic
idols, and statues of renowned and mighty monarchs, whose names are familiar to us
in the page of Holy Writ: it has been erected from the designs, and under the imme-
diate superintendence, of Mr. Pergusson, a gentleman well qualified for the task, and
who has been assisted by the researches and discoveries of the most celebrated travellers.
The colouring and ornamentation used by the ancient Assyrians has been very ably
imitated by Mr. Collman, of Curzon-street. The colossal bulls, and the columns from
Persepolis, are modelled by Mr. Harper from the originals and from accurate drawings.
"VVe cannot at present enter into any details of this most extraordinary revelation of
remote antiquity. Its solemn and mysterious chambers, its sacred halls and colossal
forms, appear to usher us into spiritual converse with the mighty dead. Sennacherib
and other mighty princes of the land, rise before our imagination in the venerable
precincts so often graced by their presence, and where their sculptured forms still exist,
to bear testimony of their departed grandeur; while the very walls, in their illustrations,
recall to our minds the accuracy of the description given by Ezekiel of the decorations
of an Assyrian palace. Next to the Assyrian, the Egyptian Court claims especial notice.
It has been arranged under the direction of Mr. Owen Jones and Mr. Joseph Bonomi,
and comprises, on a reduced scale, select portions of the principal monuments of Egypt,
from the time of the Pharaohs to the Roman period; and marvellous are the represen-
tations of temples, tombs, and public edifices, that are placed before the spectator. We
have a portion of the magnificent Hall of Columns in the Temple of Carnac, at Thebes;
the Temple of Aboo-Simbel, in Nubia, with its colossal figures; the Portico of Denderah j
and a vast variety of sphinxes, obelisks, statues, and hieroglyphics, that equally awaken
our wonder and our admiration.
The Grecian Courts are extremely interesting, and abound with the finest specimens of
sculpture; among which the Laocoon and the Dying Gladiator of the Capitol, hold pre-
eminent rank. On every side the eye rests on some stately or graceful form of classic
celebrity; while a fine model of the Parthenon gives further evidence of the taste and
splendour of ancient Greece. We now pass into the Roman Courts, which also present to
us many exquisite productions of the chisel, and several representations of Roman baths
decorated in the richest and most glowing hues, and with the most exuberant imagination.
A large collection of busts, of the most celebrated of the Roman worthies, are also placed
in these apartments. The gorgeous Court of the Alhambra next solicits attention, rich in
decorative illustrations of the splendour of the ancient palace of the Moorish kings of
Grenada. The Pompeian Court is also a new and attractive feature in the New Crystal
Palace, realising to our imagination the house of a Roman citizen in the reign of Titus,
the conqueror of Jerusalem, as it existed in the city of Pompeii, at the time when it was
visited by that tremendous eruption from Vesuvius by which the elder Pliny lost his life.
Many more are the novelties we might enumerate, but we must not now extend our
remarks. Fitting time and opportunity may perhaps occur in which we may resume the
subject, and expatiate thereupon. At present, however, we must-content ourselves with a
brief description of the Palace and grounds, and an account of the ceremony of its opening.
Besides its superior size and commodiousness, it also possesses, in the spacious park
and grounds that surround it, every opportunity for horticultural and picturesque embel-
lishment, for the gratification of those who, satiated with the splendours of the interior
of the building, may wander forth among the fountains and the groves, the gardens and
the mimic wildernesses that are spread around. In the number of its Courts, too, and
in the treasures of art that it has accumulated from every quarter of the globe where
civilisation has made any progress, it is, beyond all comparison, more comprehensive.
The Nineveh, or Assyrian Court, will be visited with intense interest, unfolding as it does
its wondrous record of remote ages, in colossal monuments, sculptured walls, gigantic
idols, and statues of renowned and mighty monarchs, whose names are familiar to us
in the page of Holy Writ: it has been erected from the designs, and under the imme-
diate superintendence, of Mr. Pergusson, a gentleman well qualified for the task, and
who has been assisted by the researches and discoveries of the most celebrated travellers.
The colouring and ornamentation used by the ancient Assyrians has been very ably
imitated by Mr. Collman, of Curzon-street. The colossal bulls, and the columns from
Persepolis, are modelled by Mr. Harper from the originals and from accurate drawings.
"VVe cannot at present enter into any details of this most extraordinary revelation of
remote antiquity. Its solemn and mysterious chambers, its sacred halls and colossal
forms, appear to usher us into spiritual converse with the mighty dead. Sennacherib
and other mighty princes of the land, rise before our imagination in the venerable
precincts so often graced by their presence, and where their sculptured forms still exist,
to bear testimony of their departed grandeur; while the very walls, in their illustrations,
recall to our minds the accuracy of the description given by Ezekiel of the decorations
of an Assyrian palace. Next to the Assyrian, the Egyptian Court claims especial notice.
It has been arranged under the direction of Mr. Owen Jones and Mr. Joseph Bonomi,
and comprises, on a reduced scale, select portions of the principal monuments of Egypt,
from the time of the Pharaohs to the Roman period; and marvellous are the represen-
tations of temples, tombs, and public edifices, that are placed before the spectator. We
have a portion of the magnificent Hall of Columns in the Temple of Carnac, at Thebes;
the Temple of Aboo-Simbel, in Nubia, with its colossal figures; the Portico of Denderah j
and a vast variety of sphinxes, obelisks, statues, and hieroglyphics, that equally awaken
our wonder and our admiration.
The Grecian Courts are extremely interesting, and abound with the finest specimens of
sculpture; among which the Laocoon and the Dying Gladiator of the Capitol, hold pre-
eminent rank. On every side the eye rests on some stately or graceful form of classic
celebrity; while a fine model of the Parthenon gives further evidence of the taste and
splendour of ancient Greece. We now pass into the Roman Courts, which also present to
us many exquisite productions of the chisel, and several representations of Roman baths
decorated in the richest and most glowing hues, and with the most exuberant imagination.
A large collection of busts, of the most celebrated of the Roman worthies, are also placed
in these apartments. The gorgeous Court of the Alhambra next solicits attention, rich in
decorative illustrations of the splendour of the ancient palace of the Moorish kings of
Grenada. The Pompeian Court is also a new and attractive feature in the New Crystal
Palace, realising to our imagination the house of a Roman citizen in the reign of Titus,
the conqueror of Jerusalem, as it existed in the city of Pompeii, at the time when it was
visited by that tremendous eruption from Vesuvius by which the elder Pliny lost his life.
Many more are the novelties we might enumerate, but we must not now extend our
remarks. Fitting time and opportunity may perhaps occur in which we may resume the
subject, and expatiate thereupon. At present, however, we must-content ourselves with a
brief description of the Palace and grounds, and an account of the ceremony of its opening.