Plate 21.—The Celestial Room, Looking East
The Veil of the Temple hangs between the Terrestrial Room last described and the Celestial Room shown in the accompanying picture. This is the largest of the ceremonial rooms, and of all it is the most splendidly finished. In area it is sixty by forty-five feet, and its height is thirty-four feet. Wall columns support entablatures from which spring ten arches immediately beneath the cornice. The ceiling is vaulted and panel; beams and cornices are carved to represent clusters of fruit and flowers. At the east end are large mirrors, and around the room, in the wall niches and recesses, are paintings and statuary. Three large portals on the south, each closed by a pair of sliding doors, open into the two sealing rooms and the Holy of Holies (See Plates 23, 24, and 27.) On the north side, not shown in the picture, are large casements, corresponding in position to the opposite portals; these are hung with portieres, which in material and color match the silken Veil.
See pages 189-191.
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