Each is crowned with a dome fifty-five metres high
and thirty-two in width. These two palaces are striking examples of the
richness which can be introduced in a moment by the artistic employment
of terra-cotta and ceramic work, especially when the ceramic artists
bear such names as Mueller, Loebnitz and Parvillee, to say nothing of MM.
Breult, Boulanger and Mortreux, whose work we met in the ceramic
division, or which we shall meet in our walks through the foreign
pavilions. With M. Mueller, who has given his name to a kind of brick
covered with enamel on one of its faces, ceramic work becomes a portion
of the very fabric itself as well as of its ornamentation. This
principle applied with rare talent to the covering of the two domes of
the palaces has given a very curious and interesting result. This
covering is composed of enamelled tiles of more than 600 varieties which
are not superposed one upon another, but butt together side by side, and
form a mosaic rather than a covering of tiles. Each dome contains about
50,000 pieces arranged in ninety rows and twelve divisions. The general
tone is blue. The principal ornamental motive consists of a cartouche
which bears in the centre two large letters "R.F." in gold. The
cartouche stands out on a background of cream-white, bordered with a
meander. The effect is very brilliant and chatoyant.
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