The four grand central portals of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building recall triumphant arches of Roman times. Each of these portals has a lofty central entrance with rich bas-reliefs by Mr. Bitter and smaller side arches under pendentive domes. These eight domes have been filled with figure decorations, each by a different artist. Those on the south front of the building have been painted by Mr. J. Alden Weir and Mr. Robert Reid, who, with distinctly individual compositions, have harmonized their designs in a remarkably agreeable and skilful manner. Mr. Weir has chosen allegorical female figures of “Decorative Art,” “The Art of Painting,” “Goldsmith’s Art,” and the “Art of Pottery.” Each of these figures is seated on a balustrade and is relieved against a sky of pale broken blue tones. Flying draperies and capitals of four orders of architecture serve to connect the lines of the composition, which is further enriched by a cupid holding a tablet inscribed with the different arts and decorated with a wreath. The figures are large and simple in line, and the general scheme of color is pale blue varied with purple and green, a combination suggested by the evanescent hues of Lake Michigan. Mr. Reid has also selected seated allegorical figures to carry out his ideas, with the addition of four youths, one on the keystone of each arch, holding high above their heads wreaths and palm branches which meet and cross so as to form a band of decorative forms around the upper part of the dome. A semi-nude figure of a man with an anvil and wrought-iron shield represents “Ironworking;” a young girl in white resting one arm on a pedestal and the hand of the other arm touching a piece of carved stone, signifies “Ornament;” another in purple, finishing a drawing of a scroll, suggests the principle of “Design,” as applied to mechanical arts, and the fourth figure is readily interpreted as honoring the “Textile Arts.” In the east portal Mr. E. E. Simmons has placed a single figure of a man in each pendentive of the dome, symbolizing “Wood Carving,” “Stone Cutting,” “Forging,” and “Mechanical Appliances.” The general scheme is pale gray and flesh-colored tones relieved and accentuated by the forms of the tools and accessories appropriate to each figure. The [Illustration: “DECORATION,” FIGURE BY C. S. REINHART.]