Arts and Arts and humani!

es · AP®/College Art History

humani!es AP®/College · Later Europe and Americas: 1750-1980 C.E.
Art History Later Europe · Enlightenment and revolu!on
and Americas: 1750-1980
C.E. Enlightenment and Thomas
revolu!on Jefferson, Mon!cello
Enlightenment and revolu!on
AP.USH: ARC (Theme), KC-3.2.III.D (KC),
Unit 3: Learning Objec!ve M
Fragonard, The Swing
Google Classroom Facebook
Thomas Jefferson, Twi"er Email
Mon!cello

David, Oath of the Hora!i

David, Oath of the Hora!i

Houdon, George
Washington

Vigée Le Brun, Self-

Portrait

Goya, And there's nothing

to be done (from the Thomas Jefferson, Mon!cello, Charlo"esville, Virginia, 1770-1806.
Photo: Rick S!llings (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

A gentleman architect
In an undated note, Thomas Jefferson le$ clear
instruc!ons about what he wanted engraved upon
his burial marker:
 Here was buried
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declara!on of American
Independence
of the Statute of Virginia for religious
freedom
Father of the University of Virginia

Jefferson explained, “because by these, as

tes!monials that I have lived, I wish most to be
remembered.” To be certain, there are important
achievements Jefferson neglected. He was also
the Governor of Virginia, American minister to
France, the first Secretary of State, the third
president of the United States, and one of the
most accomplished gentleman architects in
American history. To quote William Pierson, an
architectural historian, “In spite of the fact that his
training and resources were those of an amateur,
he was able to perform with all the insight and
boldness of a high professional.”

Indeed, even had he never entered poli!cal life,

Jefferson would be remembered today as one of
the earliest proponents of neoclassical
architecture in the United States. Jefferson
believed art was a powerful tool; it could elicit
social change, could inspire the public to seek
educa!on, and could bring about a general sense
of enlightenment for the American public. If Cicero
believed that the goals of a skilled orator were to
Teach, to Delight, and To Move, Jefferson believed
that the scale and public nature of architecture
could fulfill these same aspira!ons.

Thomas Jefferson, Mon!cello (view from the north), Charlo"esville,

Virginia, 1770-1806. Photo: Virginia Hill (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Return to the classical

Jefferson arrived at the College of William and
Mary in 1760 and took an immediate interest in
the architecture of the college’s campus and of
Williamsburg more broadly. A lifelong book lover,
Jefferson began his architectural collec!on while a
student. His first two purchases were James
Leoni’s The Architecture of A. Palladio (1715-1720)
and James Gibbs’ Rules for Drawing the Several
Parts of Architecture (1732).

Although never formally trained as an architect,

Jefferson, both while a student and then later in
life, expressed dissa!sfac!on with the
architecture that surrounded him in Williamsburg,
believing that the Wren-Baroque aesthe!c
common in colonial Virginia was too Bri!sh for a
North American audience. In an o$-quoted
passage from Notes on Virginia (1782), Jefferson
cri!cally wrote of the architecture of
Williamsburg:

“The College and Hospital are rude, mis-shapen

piles, which, but that they have roofs, would be
taken for brick-kilns. There are no other public
buildings but churches and court-houses, in which
no a"empts are made at elegance.”

Thus, when Jefferson began to design his own

home, he turned not to the architecture then in
vogue around the Williamsburg area, but instead
to the classically inspired architecture of Antonio
Palladio and James Gibbs. Rather than place his
planta!on house along the bank of a river—as was
the norm for Virginia's landed gentry during the
eighteenth century—Jefferson decided instead to
place his home, which he named Mon!cello
(Italian for "li"le mountain") atop a solitary hill just
outside Charlo"esville, Virginia.

French Neo-Classicism for an

American audience
Construc!on began in 1768 when the hilltop was
first cleared and leveled, and Jefferson moved into
the completed South Pavilion two years later. The
early phase of Mon!cello’s construc!on was
largely completed by 1771. Jefferson le$ both
Mon!cello and the United States in 1784 when he
accepted an appointment as America Minister to
France. Over the next five years, that is, un!l
September 1789 when Jefferson returned to the
United States to serve as Secretary of State under
newly elected President Washington, Jefferson
had the opportunity to visit Classical and
Neoclassical architecture in France.

Thomas Jefferson, Rotunda, University of Virginia, Charlo"esville,

Virginia, 1819-26. Photo: Michael Hebb (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

This !me abroad had an enormous effect on

Jefferson’s architectural designs. The Virginia
State Capitol (1785-1789) is a modified version of
the Maison Carrée (16 B.C.E.), a Roman temple
Jefferson saw during a visit to Nîmes, France. And
although Jefferson never went so far as Rome, the
influence that the Pantheon (125 C.E.) had over
his Rotunda (begun 1817) at the University of
Virginia is so evident it hardly need be men!oned.
Poli!cs largely consumed Jefferson from his return
to the United States un!l the last day of 1793
when he formally resigned from Washington’s
cabinet. From this year un!l 1809, Jefferson
diligently redesigned and rebuilt his home,
crea!ng in !me one of the most recognized
private homes in the history of the United States.
In it, Jefferson fully integrated the ideals of French
neoclassical architecture for an American
audience.

In this later construc!on period, Jefferson

fundamentally changed the propor!ons of
Mon!cello. If the early construc!on gave the
impression of a Palladian two-story pavilion,
Jefferson’s later remodeling, based in part on the
Hôtel de Salm (1782-87) in Paris, gives the
impression of a symmetrical single-story brick
home under an austere Doric entablature. The
west garden façade—the view that is once again
featured on the American nickel—shows
Mon!cello’s most recognized architectural
features. The two-column deep extended por!co
contains Doric columns that support a triangular
pediment that is decorated by a semicircular
window. Although the short octagonal drum and
shallow dome provide Mon!cello a sense of
ver!cality, the wooden balustrade that circles the
roofline provides a powerful sense of horizontality.
From the bo"om of the building to its top,
Mon!cello is a striking example of French
Neoclassical architecture in the United States.
Rembrandt Peale, Thomas Jefferson, 1805, oil on linen, 28 x 23 1/2
inches (New-York Historical Society)

Jefferson changed poli!cal par!es and was a

Democra!c-Republican by the !me he was
elected president. He believed the young United
States needed to forge a strong diploma!c
rela!onship with France, a country Jefferson and
his poli!cal brethren believed were our
revolu!onary brothers in arms. With this in mind,
it is unsurprising that Jefferson designed his own
home a$er the neoclassicism then popular in
France, a mode of architecture that was dis!nct
from the style then fashionable in Great Britain.
This neoclassicism—with roots in the architecture
of ancient Rome—was something Jefferson was
able to visit while abroad.
Buildings that speak to democra!c
ideals
By helping to introduce classical architecture to
the United States, Jefferson intended to reinforce
the ideals behind the classical past: democracy,
educa!on, ra!onality, civic responsibility. Because
he detested the English, Jefferson con!nually
rejected Bri!sh architectural precedents for those
from France. In doing so, Jefferson reinforced the
symbolic nature of architecture. Jefferson did not
just design a building; he designed a building that
eloquently spoke to the democra!c ideals of the
United States. This is clearly seen in the Virginia
State Capitol, in the Rotunda at the University of
Virginia, and especially in his own home,
Mon!cello.

Essay by Dr. Bryan Zygmont

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Миленa 5 years ago
more

I am going to sound like a total jerk here,

BUT: does anyone else think this building
is a weird, ugly chimaera of styles? It's a
really bizarre cobbling-together of
unpainted ancient Greek religious
architecture, and dull southern brick. Can
anyone explain the appeal? I want to
understand why this building is so well-
received by art historians.
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5
…
years
Bryan Zygmont ago

I think that appropria!on--taking

some Greek and Roman
architecture an molding it to an
American use--is very much part
of the appeal. That 'chimaera'
style is part of the appeal and
shows the ways in which
Jefferson was well acquainted
with classical architecture. It's an
important building for the ways
in which Jefferson helped to
further advance neoclassical
architecture in the United States.
2 (10
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comments votes)
Cameron Doyle 5 years ago
more

What materials and technique was the

Jefferson home made from?
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4
…
years
alexaschummer99 ago

Brick, glass, stone, and wood

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Natalia 3 years ago

more

why did jefferson like montechello so

much
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2
m…
years
David Alexander ago

It was his home. Many people

like their homes.
1 (4
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comment
emiles 4 years ago
more

You said that this building was a "return to

classical". What are the neoclassical
elements in this building?
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Jin Park 3 years ago

more

Doric(Greek) columns appear on

the façade of Mon!cello, and the
pediment crowns the entrance
and the top window. The dome
graces the center of the building,
and the interior layout is
symmetrical with rectangular
rooms mirroring one another on
either side of the building.
(4
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AraPJ 4 years ago
more

Why is Thomas Jefferson considered to be

the Father of American Architecture?
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4
m…
years
David Alexander ago

I re-read the en!re ar!cle and

missed this asser!on. Could
mean I read it poorly, could mean
it's not there. What I DID find is
that Jefferson changed the
direc!on of American
Architecture from that which
mimicked Bri!sh styles to that
which mimicked French styles
and reflected American
democra!c thinking.
4 (3
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comments votes)

Rebecca Hammond 4 years ago

more

Has anyone else been listening to

Hamilton during this unit? It fits perfectly
XD
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3
m…
years
SugarBugat2007 ago

That's exactly what I did!

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yonas 2 years ago
more

Thomas Jefferson’s lifelong work on his

home in Mon!cello stands as a key
conduit for old world ideas as they were
brought into the young United States.
What specific aspects of his house at
Mon!cello have direct rela!onships to
aspects of what became American
architecture and society?
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2
m…
years
David Alexander ago

You may find the answers that

you're seeking here:
h"ps://www.history.com/topics/
mon!cello
(1
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Anya Lund 4 years ago

more

I am going there with my family. What will

I see?
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kiannacheng 2 years ago

more

Why did Jefferson decided to use three

different kinds of architecture and
combined them for the construc!on and
design of the Mon!cello?
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 ad17kban 2 years ago
more

Correc!on: It is Andrea Palladio and not

Antonio Palladio.
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Fragonard, The Swing David, Oath of the Hora!i

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