The richly ornate ceiling of the Rotunda of Fine Arts is embellished by a double series of eight panels from the brush of Robert Reid, in the luminous, fervid, joyous vein that characterizes the method of this highly honored American artist. The task assigned him here was a test of skill. The arched effect, so beautifully achieved, and the great accomplishment of merging the huge, brilliant panels into the decorative plan, were not the only difficulties. He had also to calculate the scale of proportion to a mathematical nicety, to make the figures large enough to appear the proper size when viewed so high overhead. The panels are in two sequences, four of them devoted to each subject. The sequence of which an example is illustrated is the Four Golds of California: "The Golden Poppy," the "cup of gold" that makes the spring a glory on California hills; "The Golden Fruit," the citrus fruits that are her pride; "The Golden Metal" that called the world to her hill-sides, and "The Golden Wheat," here shown, the treasure of her fields, borne high in honor. These alternate with the sequence of the Golden Arts, described on the succeeding page. Oriental Art Rotunda, Palace of Fine Arts The great panels of the Golden Arts alternate, in the ceiling of the Rotunda of Fine Arts, with the Four Golds of California. All of these panels so tone their brilliancy into the great sweep of the ceiling that the beholder gets a sense of the beauty of the whole rather than that of any part. This arching, floating unity of the ceiling is an admirable example of the self-control of the muralist. The Golden Arts are interpreted by symbolic groups including a larger number of figures than The Four Golds. They are entitled "Inspirations of All Art," "Ideals in Art," "The Birth of European Art," and "Oriental Art," here illustrated as typical. In this, against the soft but sparkling background of bright sky and clouds that supports all of the panels, are set with much verve the historical, legendary and romantic inspirations of Oriental art. The group is dominated by a contest between an eagle and a knight mounted upon a dragon - based upon a legend of the Ming dynasty. Fugi, the sacred mountain, is in the distance; the sacred dog attends the Chinese hero in the foreground. A beautiful Japanese woman - indicating the inspiration of romance, East and West - sits among flowers. The space is filled in a manner appropriately and charmingly suggestive of Oriental composition. The Arts of Peace Netherlands Pavilion