nchi,
commissioner-general; Mr. Adolfo Appoloni, commissioner of fine arts;
Chev. Vittorio Zeggio; Mr. Guido Pantaleoni; Mr. Alberto Alfani, Mr.
Tullio Giordana, Mr. Cesare Della Chiesa, Mr. Jerome Zeggio,
secretaries; Mr. Giuseppe Sommarauga, architect of the pavilion.

The Italian pavilion was one of the most artistic and beautiful, if not
one of the smallest, foreign buildings on the World's Fair grounds. It
was a construction of Roman travertine stone, ornamented with bronze and
marble sculptures. It was an architectonic fancy, Graeco-Roman, on the
style of the ancient villas of the emperors of the Caesarian age, with
garden and fountains.

The front colonnade ended in two stout lateral "pillars," crowned by two
"victories" of gilded bronze (a work by Bialetti, of Milan), one of
which bore the Italian laurel and the others the olive branch, as a
token of peace and welfare.

After ascending the first stairs, about 90 feet wide, and passing
through all the colonnade of ionic style, was the garden where the
ancient Romans used to grow their laurel, an image of glory.

The building was erected on a strong base more than 15 feet high, with
another flight of stairs more than 45 feet wide.

The front was formed by a central body of the Corinthian style of the
best epoch, flanked by two lower parts ornamented by marble and bronze
works. The caryatides of the three latticed windows were authentic
copies of the ancient caryatides of Greek origin now in the Castle of
Abano, near Rome.

In the hall, together with cases and various ancient works, there was a
faithful copy of the famous Etruscan vase called "Of Francois,"
belonging to the gallery of Florence, and a good copy in marble of the
Roman group of wrestlers. Also in the same halls, in the cavities at the
end under the frieze, with the inscription in Roman characters, "Italia
lux alma preevit," were two great oil paintings of their Royal Majesties
the King and Queen of Italy.

This monument of art was the work of Giuseppe Sommarauga, architect, of
Milan, who had also the task of originating and directing all the
principal decorations made and shipped from Italy.

The participation of Italy at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was
authorized by a law of the Italian Parliament dated December 27, 1903.
The participation was prepared by the department of agriculture,
industry, and commerce, under the direct supervision of the minister,
Hon. Luigi Rava. A special com