The plinth meets the lawn
Today the Saint Louis Art Museum's stone walls meet the lawn at a low plinth, with a lion-head carving at grade.
The questionIs the original ground line higher than it was in 1904?
Investigate · St. Louis 1904
St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park
2 clues in this photo
Photo: AmyBautz · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Same kind of clue, elsewhere
#4Grand Central: arched windows at the debris lineWhy does a brand-new terminal have arched openings at or below the working grade?
Solid wall at the lower levelWhat is that masonry base, when was it laid, and did it carry an earlier structure?
Memorial Hall: stone at the openingMemorial Hall was always meant to stay, but what does that say about the 'temporary' halls standing beside it?
Tile and stone on the Beaux-Arts palaceWhich of these surfaces are plaster and which are fired tile or stone, and has anyone ever tested a fragment?
A raised terrace at the baseWas the terrace built up for the fair, or was the surrounding ground lowered?
Caryatids on the Palace of Fine ArtsIf this palace had a brick core, how many of the others did too?