MAIN FRONT
O tr T SI DE DECORATIONS
Likci ail «lod^îm aridhîtects, he who conœlved tbe plaB^ of tliis buildihg is an etiléctic. He bas too much tasta, hoirever, and îs too well educated to fall into that Confusion or^tJ^J^^ intp which oné is apt to Éril ndwadfiy3; a eonfùisian wliichicanbe toteràleâ'in a building inteaded for ordimuîy ptirposM, biitM^v^h^b shonld be ayoidéd'in a tiib|»]inmt devoted to the p^triotic labors of legisla^^ and lo tjie perpétuation of the historktd
glorieç of our çountr j.
The style of the Government Build^iiigs may be called the Renaissance style of the 17tji century j for the reviyal of X3la9sicai forms hae manifeàted itself in many.waya
84 QOVERNMENT BUILDINGS
in France, Germany, Italy, etc. ; and thèse manifestations hâve been successively modified and hâve formed a species of secondary epochsin the gênerai epoch.
The main front of the vast square of the Government Buildings is remarkable for the fine proportions of its central tower, dedicated to Jacques Cartier ; for the purity of the Unes of the fore parts added to this tower, one dedicated to Champlain, the other to Maisonneuve ; for the élégance of the pavilions at the angles^ and the entire ornamentation.
On thé ground floor of the campanile or central tower is the principal entrauce by which the Lîeutenant-Governor proceeds to the Législative Council to meet the mémbers of both Houses of the Legîslaturej on the occasion of grand officiai cérémonies, at the beginning and end of each session.
In the centre of the entablature of the portico of the main entrance, the arms of the Province of Québec, with the motto " Je me souviens " are carved in Deschambault
IN QVZStVC 85
Hmestonie. This entabla^ture is supported on each'49ide by double loniccGlums, of ix)li9]ied gre^n granité from Quinqy (Masaachusdtts) and b(y xîorresponding double pilastera of the fitame stone. . To the right and left of this main entrAuce are^ped^als built into the basenien^y in the fonn of piers intended for statues of great men of the présent or future générations. The idea has been expreesed that they sbould not be uaed for any of our contemporaries, during their life-time.
The nichés in the masonry of the front of the campanile and of the central forefront will hôld the statues of Jacques Cartier^ the discoverer of Canada; of Champlain, the founder of Québec ; of MaisonneuvQ, the founder of Montréal ; of Laiviolette, the founder of Three-llivers ; of Pierre Boucher, Gôrveroorof ThTeei-Rivei?8, ah aeeomplished t3''p^e of the old Càùadian seigneur ; thén those of Piitherde Brebeuf, the great Jesuit niattyr ; of th=e Becollet Fathfer Nicolrts Viei; drowned by the Indians in the rapids since called Sault-a^-RecoUet; p( Monseig^ieuryà^^
86 QOVERyMENT BUILDINGS
Montmorency - Laval, the first bishop of Québec ; of M. Olier, the founder of the Society of St. Sulpitiua and of that of Notre- Dame de Montréal ; finaly those of FrontenaCy Levis, Wolfe and Montcalm, and of two celebrîtîes of the nineteenth century, Lord Elgin and Colonel Charles Michel de Salaberry.
The arms of each of thèse perrfon nages, those of their family, of their town, or order, are carved in stone above each niche ^.
The manner in which thèse niches and statues are dis])osed indicate a very clear perception of the main Unes of Canadian history ; in their distribution there is also a noticeable parallelism which dénotes an experienced hand.
1. The mottoes of seyeral of the personages haye also been carved in stone. Uere are some of them : Laval : '' Dieu aide au premier baron chrestien ; ^* Mootcalm : *' Mon innocence est ma forteressCj and '^ Draeonis extincfor ; Elgin : " I\iimus ; " de Salaberry :" Force à euperbCf mercy àfoibUy The motto of the Jesuits : <' Ad majorem Dei gloriam ; '' that of the Franciscans (Recolle ts) : " Abeit mihi gloriari nisi in cruce D. N, J, (J. ; " that of Levis : '^ Dieu ayde au second Chrestien^ LévisJ'^
In the piers of each story and up to the walls of the attic of this main front, trophies, surrounded by oakleaves, cartouches, panoplies and floatîng draperies bear^ c<irved in relief, the arms and names of the Governors and Lieutenants of the King : Montmagny, d'Ailleboust, d'Argenson, Tracy, Callières, Vaudreuil, Murray, Dorchester, Prévost^ Bagot ; of the discoverers Marquette, Jch liette, La Verendreye, La Salle ) of the intendant Jean Talon ; of the warriors Daulac^ de Beaujeu, Hertel, d'Iberville*
The lantern of the campanile, consisting of a story of the Corinthian ordér and of an attic, is flanked at the angles by four small towers and is pierced by bulPseyeson each face.
One of thèse openingr, on the main front, is masked by an escutcheon, elliptic in form, containing the Royal Arms carved in high relief. The key of the frame of this opening bears the raonogram' V. R., surmounted by an impérial crown.
Jacques Cartier's statue will beplacedim-
88 GOVERNMENT' BtTlLDINQS
médîately below in an ordonnance in the Gorinthian «tyle.
1 he transparent dial-plates of the clock in the campani'e are lighted at night by an electric lamp in the interior of the tower.
Tb thé rîght and left of thèse dial-plates, torchés with flickering flaines, emblemâ of the flight of time and of life ever sèlf-consuming, are carved in the stone
TÏie attics of the fore-parts joined to the campanile are dîvided into three arcades separated by Gorinthian pîlasters. In the centriiï arcades are niches intended for the statues of Ghamp aîn and Maisonnenve.
The pediment of the forepàrt dédicatéd to Chatoplain is surmounted by a fine gro;ip in bronze by Mr. Philippe Hébert: '^ Poetry end Hwtory. '■' Another bronze group by the samesculptbr : ^'Religion a7f(fP(ftnft^^ctfôvms tîie pediment of the fore-part d édîcated tb Maisonneuve.
In front of the main entrance, at thé foot of the campanile, on the slope of the gîroiind, is the moaumental foantiain dedîcatedîto the
abbriginal tribesof Canada alreàdy reféirréd io. lis portic >, of the Tuscan ordier, îs oriiamêtitéd at the tôp by a bronze groùp» rèpresentîng an Indian fîimily. At thé véry ft)ôtj àt the back of the sheet of water formée by an aîmost elliptic basin^ fôrty-fiV'è fèet long and twenty-éîght wide, a bronzé Ikidîian \vith vi nigôgué or fish-spéar, speariflg a salnion fish in the raiddle of a casôarfè, complètes the ornamentation ôf thià gi^éïut pièce of work.
The following statues executèd by Mr.
Philippe Hébert hâve already been placed on the front of th^ Législative Building :
. Campanile : Wolfe and Montcalm.
Champlaiii foré front : Froiiteiiac, Elgiri, Pbétry and History.
Maison neuve fore-front : Levis, Sàlaberry, Religion aiid Patrla.
Fountain : An Indian family and Indian fish-spearer.
The models of each of thèse statues were approved by a committee appointed by the Government and consisting of Mr. Siméon
Lesage, Assistant Coinmissioner of Public Works; Mr. Eugène Hamel, artist, and the architect, Mr. Taché, Assisant Cîommissioner of Lands^ Forests and Fisheries.
Rose granité pedestals, placed as a border on the fountain avenue, to the right and left of the basin, await twisted columns which, in Mr. Taché's designs, are surmounted by Grecian lamps. The columns and lamps will be of bronze.
