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Investigate · Paris 1889

Exposition Universelle de 1889. Le Palais des Beaux-Arts - btv1b11600115k

Exposition Universelle de 1889. Le Palais des Beaux-Arts - btv1b11600115k
2 clues in this photo

1Masonry, not plaster

Tile and stone on the Beaux-Arts palace

The Palais des Beaux-Arts shows ceramic or tile ornament, stone-look piers, statues and a raised terrace with stairs.

The questionWhich of these surfaces are plaster and which are fired tile or stone, and has anyone ever tested a fragment?

2Below-grade windows

A raised terrace at the base

The palace sits on a raised terrace reached by stairs, so the ground floor stands above the walkway.

The questionWas the terrace built up for the fair, or was the surrounding ground lowered?

Photo: Neurdein frères (Photographes). Photographe · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Paris 1889Case file

Same kind of clue, elsewhere

#4Below-grade windows · Grand Central TerminalGrand Central: arched windows at the debris lineWhy does a brand-new terminal have arched openings at or below the working grade?Masonry, not plaster · London 1851Solid wall at the lower levelWhat is that masonry base, when was it laid, and did it carry an earlier structure?Masonry, not plaster · Philadelphia 1876Memorial Hall: stone at the openingMemorial Hall was always meant to stay, but what does that say about the 'temporary' halls standing beside it?Masonry, not plaster · Chicago 1893Caryatids on the Palace of Fine ArtsIf this palace had a brick core, how many of the others did too?Masonry, not plaster · Atlanta 1895Rough-faced stone at the New York BuildingWhy put a heavy stone base under a building said to be temporary?Masonry, not plaster · Atlanta 1895The Woman's Building on a stone-look baseWhat was this base made of, and what happened to it after the fair?

All clues others missed →