American Classicism and the ‘Gentleman Architect’ Thomas Jefferson

American Classicism and the ‘Gentleman Architect’ Thomas Jefferson
The Virginia State Capitol rendered in an 1830 watercolor by William Goodacre.
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In 1784 Thomas Jefferson found himself in France as our first ambassador. While he was there he fell in love. Arrested by its striking classical beauty, the patriot became smitten with a small Roman temple in Nîmes known as the Maison Carrée (square house). Describing it as “the most perfect model existing of what might be called cubic architecture,” Jefferson sketched a design for the Capitol of Virginia, to be built in Richmond. “Very simple, noble beyond expression,” he continued in praise of the original, as he and French architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau collaborated on their new design. Completed in 1788, it was, according to architectural historian George Heard Hamilton, “the first building to be so called in modern times, and the first since antiquity specifically intended for republican legislative functions ... the State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia.”

The Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France, became Thomas Jefferson's inspiration for the Virginia Capitol in Richmond. (Krzysztof Golick, cc license)
The Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France, became Thomas Jefferson's inspiration for the Virginia Capitol in Richmond. Krzysztof Golick, cc license
Bob Kirchman
Bob Kirchman
Author
Bob Kirchman is an architectural illustrator who lives in Augusta County, Va., with his wife Pam. He teaches studio art to students in the Augusta Christian Educators Homeschool Co-op.
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