Editing Horace Trumbauer (section)

== Philadelphia Museum of Art ==

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (1919-1928) represents Trumbauer's most significant public commission and his principal legacy to Philadelphia. The building crowns the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with Greek temple forms at monumental scale, its wings extending along Fairmount's ridge to create a classical acropolis overlooking the city. Minnesota dolomite facades, polychrome terracotta roof, and bronze doors required decades to complete, their quality ensuring the building's permanence. The design, with significant contribution from Julian Abele and associate architects Zantzinger, Borie and Medary, achieved grandeur appropriate to Philadelphia's cultural ambitions.<ref name="wilson"/>

The museum's famous entrance steps—immortalized in the film ''Rocky''—demonstrate Trumbauer's mastery of processional experience. The ascent from street to plateau creates physical and psychological preparation for cultural encounter, transforming museum visit into ceremonial approach. Interior galleries, organized around a great hall and proceeding through period rooms and exhibition spaces, continue the building's Beaux-Arts organization of circulation and hierarchy. The building remains Philadelphia's premier cultural institution, its classical presence defining the Parkway's terminus.<ref name="moss"/>