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

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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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- 4- V Ehuraiinnal Ailuantagrn nf GBIII' Memnrial illlinarum By JOSEPH A. HANDLOS T 'N EK UT a short time ago the twenty-first anniver- PK N' sary of the founding of the Memorial Mu- ' seum in Golden Gate Park was celebrated -. - f- A with fitting ceremonies. The building, in SZ which the exhibits are displayed, was used EK d EK as the Fine Arts Palace of the Midwinter Exposition held in the year 1894. At that time the question of preserving some part of the exposition was debated, and through the efforts of Honorable M. H. De Young, the Board of Park Commissioners was persuaded to allow this building to remain as a public museum. The museum, though of humble origin, has gradually attained importance through the untiring efforts of some of our public-spirited men and women. Today it ranks sixth in size for institutions of its character in the United States, and contains over one mil- lion exhibits. From an educational standpoint it is one of the most valuable assets to San Francisco. It is our purpose in this article to conduct the reader upon a short tour through the historic and artistic exhibits of this collection. Upon entering the quaint old building, which, with the Egyptian note so pronounced in its architecture, puts the student into the proper mood to view the relics of a distant past as well as the artistic treasures of the present, our attention is attracted to the magnificent group of statuary embodying the striking handiwork of Storey in the massive figure of Saul, King of the Israelites, and of Delilah, be- trayer of Samson. On one side we see the five great em- perors of the Roman Empire, Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Nero, Hadrian and Antoninusg on the other, the life-sized carvings

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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