St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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8 THE IGNATMN ful exploration for the student seeking knowledge of the Indian is here offered. A In this museum are five rooms devoted to art by worldf renowned artists ofiSan Francisco. Here the student may linger and view the lavish beauty of nature so vividly dis- played by California, and depicted by these artists. With this throbbing California beauty caught and held by the wondrous brushes of these artists, one is stirred with a sense of gratitude for the lasting quality of the painter's Wfkfk. The musician thrills us with his music, but with his iinal note, the enchantment dies. The singer enraptures us with the splendor of his voice, but when the last note fades away the charm is gone. Not so with the artist. Nature's beauty once depicted on canvas remains, forever. In the large main room are canvases by the world's greatest artists, a Millet, a Dupre, a Daubigny, a Rembrandt, a Peale, a Gilbert Stuart, and others, alone sufficient toihold the student in admiration and study indefinitely. Leaving the Art Room we enter the Furniture Room where we see exhibits of the Italian, the Gothic, the French and English Empires. Here also may be seen some additional Colonial furniture. The Armor Room is next visited. Here is where the knowledge of history will hold the attention of the student. We see crude instruments of war used by the Phoenicians and the Trojans, the cumbersome and heavy armor worn by the gallant knights of old, the cross-bow guns, the wheel- lock muskets, the clumsy Hintlock and the early Colts. Our eyes stray from the ponderous cannons and mortars, to the delicately wrought sabre and rapier of the French. VVe see the Mexican Room with its beautiful carvings of the Aztec idols, and other objects of history pertaining to that country. In the IEIPHUCSC ROOm we come upon the splendor of the

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EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES 7 of well known historical and mythological characters, joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Apollo and Daphne, together with heroic figures of our own immortal Washington and Lincoln. As we turn from the statuary and enter the Colonial Room, we see the home of the colonist with its odd furnishings, the spinning wheel, the loom, the hour glass, the quaint fire place, and the old four-poster bedstead used in the Puritan days. The kitchen with its utensils-the churn, the polished tongs-and the crude furniture bring back vividly to our mind Longfellow's Miles Standish. A survey of the room gives to the observer a glimpse of the lives led by our forefathers. Leaving the Colonial Room we proceed to the Eccleesias- tical Room. Here we find the Bible written in various tongues hundreds of years ago. Here are biblical pictures painted by famous artists. Many interesting relics of the Roman pontiffs and other holy men dating back to the thir- teenth century may be found here. We leave this room with a spirit of reverence, convinced that a spiritual lesson has been learned. Then we proceed to the Indian Room. Note the crude stone implements of the aborigines of this country long be- fore civilization and intellectual light were brought to them by the gentle Franciscan friars. The wonderful bead work, and the exact precision maintained in its construction, is marvelous. The costumes and the head dresses worn at their social functions are worthy of note. In this room may be seen an excellent collection of bows and arrows and other implements peculiar to the Indian. ' Next we enter the Basketry Room, which is distinctive of the Indian life of California. The squaws were the his- torians and chroniclers of their tribe. The basketry work in construction and design is quite wonderful. Every phase of their life is told in these basketsg their joys, pleasures, and sorrows are woven into the designs. A wide field for fruit-

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EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES 9 Orient. Hundreds of ivory carvings meet the eye, each dis- playing remarkable workmanship and representing the dif- ferent periods of the Japanese. Italy is well represented, aside from Art, by the wonderful relics gathered from the ruins of the famous city of Pompeii. One can almost see the violet skies of nearly 2000 years ago, and hear the deafening roar of Vesuvius accompanied by the clouds of ashes, which buried this famous city of bacchanalian revelry. 0 A glance into Egypt may also be had as we look upon the mummies and other objects dating back centuries ago. Here we also see the great Rosetta stone found in 1799, in a little town in Egypt, on which is written in Greek and Latin the solution of the riddle of the Egyptian. The Tapestry and Textile Rooms offer a broad Held to the student. Many hours may be spent prontably in studyf ing these master creations of man's' skill. The musical-instrument collection, with the harp, the lyre, and other instruments, adorned with grotesque heads of animals, and used by the players for arousing fear in their enemies hundreds of years ago, is one of the finest and rarest collections of its kind to be found anywhere. In the Ceramic Hall is a wonderful collection of pottery, glazed ware, chinaware, and enamelware of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. There are collections from every factory of importance in the world including Wedgewoods, Meissen, Dresden, Sevres and Majolicaq also cloisonne work by the Chinese, and the lacquer and gold work of the Japanese. Before we conclude our journey a glance into the Jewel Hall will invite the student to linger. Complete collections of coins from every part of the globe, medals of all the Roman Pontiffs who have ruled the Christian world, and also medals of the French rulers from l478 to 1834 are found here. Then there are the precious stones, the ruby, the diamond, the pearl, the amethyst, and jewelry worn in