Our tour of the Palais des Nations continues and from the Lobby of the Council Chamber we proceed to the Council Chamber.
The Salle du Conseil or the Council Chamber, formerly housed the League of Nations and has stunning murals by José Maria Sert. Many important negotiations have taken place in this room. This room has hosted many tense negotiations and that's what makes it unique - it has two separate entrances so antagonistic parties can enter and leave at the same time!
The Salle du Conseil has been host to the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and, in recent years, the Conference on Disarmament...
The gold and sepia murals on the ceiling and walls leave you spellbound...
The murals, a gift of the Government of Spain in 1936, were painted by the Catalan artist José María Sert. They depict human progress through health, technology, freedom and peace – all united by five colossal Dantesque figures (representing the world’s five continents) grasping each other’s hands in apocalyptical triumph at the dome of the ceiling.
José María Sert (“a baroque painter working in the 20th century”) has been referred to as “the last of the great masters”, in the great Spanish artistic tradition of Velásquez, El Greco and Goya. When his work in this Chamber was first seen, it was compared with the frescos of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.
(Source: United Nations Office at Geneva website http://www.unog.ch/virtual_tour/palais_des_nations.html)
Another view of the exterior...
We head to Assembly Hall next...
The Assembly Hall is the biggest room in the Palais which can seat about 2,000 people. The Hall was inaugurated on 25 September 1937 during the 18th session of the League of Nations Assembly. The hall got its present look in 1996 after a major renovation...
Hanuk telling us that the hall hosts the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization, besides the UN General Assembly when their sessions are not held in New York. The hall has facilities for simultaneous interpretation in six languages...
And as we prepare to leave the magnificent and historic Palais des Nations...
...we walk past some more works of art...
...expressions of various cultures...
...of rekindling the spirit of hope in humanity...
...to overcome despair and pain!
And we say adieu to the Palais des Nations to head to the Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge...
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