Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 20.pdf/188

 THE ESSEX COUNTY COURT HOUSE tions and inviting to those who wish to study. No book stacks are seen in the reading room but all the volumes are kept in the large, fireproof vault shut off by a heavy metal door, so that the treasures of the law library are assured against fire. Around the top of the reading room is a kind of legal hall of fame including names of Moses, Napoleon, Marshall, Irnerius,

great public buildings, so that it compares favorably ' even with the Appellate Court House in New York City and the magnifi cent new court house in Baltimore. Mr. Blashfield's work takes the form of four pendentives over the central well and they represent Mercy, Wisdom, Knowledge and Power. They are forceful' figures, very decorative in their unique position, and

FIGURES IN COURT HOUSE ROTUNDA

Solon, Blackstone, Jefferson and Frederick Second in impartial mixture. The mural paintings in the court house are by the eight well known artists, Howard Pyle, Kenyon Cox, E. H. Blashfield, H. O. Walker, Will H. Low, Geo. W. Maynard, Chas. Y. Turner and F. D. Millet and they have been universally successful in keeping in harmony with the different settings for their paintings, and have made the Essex County Court House take first rank among

127

E. H. Blashfield.

they are considered as being among his best works. These, like all the others in the building, are painted on canvas and fastened to the walls with white lead. Another work full of strength is the painting by Mr. Howard Pyle in the room of the Board of Freeholders. He chose for his design the Landing of Captain Philip Cartaret, the first governor of the province, at Elizabethport, N. J., in August, 1665. In the center group stand the governor and