After enjoying our first two visits to Grand Central Terminal and learning general facts about the building, it was great hearing about specific architecture points from today’s tour guide, Anthony Robins. Supplemented with a handout that depicts structures in France and Rome, we learned about the inspiration (and blatant copying) Grand Central Terminal architects drew from known foreign structures. For example, the Pershing Square Viaduct is taken directly from Paris’ Alexander III Bridge. The arches that cover the terminal are also reminiscent of the Roman triumphal arch and other arches that demonstrate a city’s greatness. The staircases that covers the east and west wing are also taken from the French opera house and the statue of Hercules, Mercury, and Minerva above GCT’s clock are sculpted similarly to the statue on Alexander III Bridge (although this is also because it is from the same sculptor, Jules-Felix Coutan). I love discovering how artists draw inspiration from outside sources and how they incorporate their own interpretations.