Golden Gate Gazette

The California Palace of The Legion of Honor, less formally known as The Legion of Honor, was built by sugar and thoroughbred horse breeding magnate, Aldolph Spreckels in 1924 as a gift for his wife. This outstanding structure was created in memory of California solders who paid the ultimate price for their country in World War I.

The entry way graced by a sculpting cast of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ leads to collections of art dating back 6000 years. Items can be traced from 4000 BC to 14 th century AD. The Ancient and European collection contains some 1400 extremely rare pieces. One of the highlights of this covers the period of Greek vase painting and includes ivory artifacts dating back to 7th century BC. Recently added to this collection is a Persian sculpture dating back to 400 BC.

Among the many paintings on permanent display are El Greco’s John The Baptist, painted in 1600 and Monet’s Waterlilies done in 1914.

Another area of The Legion of Honor is a graphic arts collection housed in the Achenbach Foundation for The Graphic Arts completed in 1948. This area is devoted to a collection of around 90,000 pieces including Japanese prints and Indian miniatures.