A Roman Temple in Virginia
The
Owl
Vol.
2, Issue 43
October 30, 2008
Baltimore,
Maryland
Dear Inquiring Traveler,
We saw last week that Thomas Jefferson chose the Maison Carrée in southern France as the model for the new capitol of Virginia, thus fulfilling his dream of introducing classical architecture to the New World. We learn today of his long-awaited tour of southern France and Italy.
Regards,
Editor,
The Owl
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The Maison
Carrée—here painted by Hubert Robert, a contemporary of Thomas
Jefferson—and the Virginia
State Capitol that Jefferson designed after the Roman
temple. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. |
Jefferson in France (part 2)
by Catherine Lapp
To Jefferson, the Maison Carrée was “one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful and precious morsel of architecture left us by antiquity. It (…) has the suffrage of all the judges of architecture who have seen it, as yielding to no one of the beautiful monuments of Greece, Rome, Palmyra, and Balbec, which late travellers have communicated to us. It is very simple, but it is noble beyond expression, and would have done honor to our country, as presenting to travellers a specimen of taste in our infancy, promising much for our maturer age.”
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It didn’t matter that Jefferson had never been to Nîmes or seen the Maison Carrée with his own eyes. When he was requested to design the new Virginia Capitol, Jefferson had drawings made of the ancient temple, hired a French architect to create a plaster model, and sent it all to Richmond.
If you’ve never been to Nîmes, go to Richmond as there are only a few differences between the original Roman temple and its American replica. One significant change, however, is that the capitals are of the Ionic order, not Corinthian— Jefferson feared that Virginia workmen would not be able to carve elaborate acanthus leaves. For the rest, the temples are surprisingly similar. But don’t pay attention to the wings that flank the edifice in Richmond: they were added in 1904-1906 when the capitol had to be rebuilt after years of neglect.A Well-Deserved Journey
In February of 1787, Jefferson was granted a leave of absence allowing him to travel to southern France for his health. Jefferson can’t have rested much during this “curative” journey, however. He toured as many ancient sites as he could—as if knowing he would never be given such an opportunity again. He visited Nîmes, Vienne, Orange, Arles, and Marseilles.
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And he couldn’t resist a short trip to northern Italy where he saw Turin, Milan, and Genoa—he must have been upset that he couldn’t make it to Rome, but this was no vacation. He visited vineyards, rice and olive tree plantations, investigated the soil, flora and fauna, and learned about agricultural machines. Never an idle man, Jefferson was on a quest for novelties and products that would benefit his homeland.
Finally, after so many years of distant admiration, Jefferson saw the Maison Carrée for himself. “Here I am, Madam, gazing at the Maison quarrée, like a lover at his mistress,” noted Jefferson in a letter to his friend, Madame de Tessé, written at the temple itself on March 20, 1787. Jefferson would need even more patience before seeing the completed capitol in Virginia. And he was never fully satisfied with the result, but that’s another story.
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