SYLLABUS
Honors Program Seminar - Spring 2001
Prof. Bill Ziobro - Dept. of Classics
"Thomas Jefferson: An American Classical Architect"
SYLLABUS
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Week #1 (Jan. 16): "Introduction & Roman Architecture and Vitruvius"
Reference:
" Perhaps it is not surprising that Chisolm made no mention
of the particular order that he was using for his "basis and
capts. of the columns," but it is certain that he had specific
instructions from Jefferson on that score. In classical architecture,
every proportion of a building is properly dependent upon the
column and its diameter. The accurate dimensioning and
positoning of the column establish modules, and these in turn
define the proportions throughout the rest of the building; not
things that Thomas Jefferson would have left to the discretion of
his builder. Exact proportions for each classical order, however,
were not universal. they depended on which particular book of
classical architectural sources an architect-builder might use."
S. Allen Chamber, Jr. Poplar Forest & Thomas Jefferson, 1993,
p.70.
Readings:
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life,
(1993), pp.1-50.
W. H. Adams, Jefferson's Monticello (1983), pp. 1-37.
J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello (1988), pp. 1-32.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 1-21.
Other: Vitruvius Bk. IV
Week #2 (Jan. 23): "Andrea Palladio: Disciple of Roman Architecture"
Reference:
"It was not the quasireligious overtones of the Vitruvian dogma
that attracted eighteenth-century intellectuals such as
Jefferson to classical architecture, however; it was the rational,
mathematically perfect ratios of the orders, the relationship of
part to whole that gave to Roman buildings the purity of
Newtonian law. No one expressed this purity with more elegance
and authority than Andreas Palladio in his I QuattriLibridel'
Architettura, the work that was to become the biblical text of
neoclassical architecture. Indeed, Jefferson used the term years
later in referring to it: 'Palladio is the Bible,' he told a friend,
and added that he should get a copy of the master's treatise 'and
stick close to it." J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello: The
Biography of a Builder, 1988, p. 54.
Readings:
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp.51-88.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 22-65.
Other:
Palladio's
Life
Palladio
on
Vitruvius
Palladio,
Bks. I and II
Palladio:
Bk. III & IV
Palladio's Villas:
Location,
Time
Line,
Characteristics,
Major
Works
Reference:
It is more than doubtful if any Englishman had attempted this
method of study before, or paid any really close attention either
to antique buildings or antique sculpture. Hitherto, antiquity
at second hand, through Serlio, or at third or fourth hand
through Flemish and German ornamentalists had been deemed
a sufficient acquaintance. Jones, by his insistence on first-hand
examination of Roman monuments, brought a completely new
factor into English architecture - a critical appreciation of
Antiquity. John Summerson, Architecture in Great Britain 1530
to 1830.1953, p. 72.
Readings:
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life,
(1993), pp. 89-148.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 66-157, 205-239.
Other:
Inigo
Jones (1573-1652)
Queens
House and Banqueting Hall
Christopher
Wren (1632-1723)
Sir
John Vanbrugh (1663/64-1726)
Lord
Burlington
Reference:
"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 attempts are made at elegance. Indeed, it would not
be easy to execute such an attempt, as workman could scarecely
be found here capable of drawing an order. The genius of
architecture seems to have shed its maledictions over the land.
Buildings are often erected, by individuals, of considerable
expence. To give these symmetry and taste, would not increase
their cost. It would only change the arangement of the materials,
the form and combination of the members. This would often cost
less than the burthen of barbarous ornaments with which these
buildings are sometimes charged. But the principles of the art
are unknown, and there exists scarcely a model among us
sufficiently chaste to give an idea of them. Thomas Jefferson,
Notes on the State of Virginia, query #15.
Readings:
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp.149-220.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 134-157.
J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello (1988), pp. 33-64.
Other:
A) 17th Century American Folk Style Gothic/Medeival Domestic ArchitectureC) Williamsburg Architecture:
Plimoth Plantation
New England Homes (e.g., Stanley-Whitman, Pierce House etc.)
Parson Capen House, Topsfield, MA (1683)
Adam Thoroughgood House, Norfolk, VA (c.1680) and LynnhavenB) 17th Century American Folk Style Gothic/Medeival Public Architecture
Old Ship Meetinghouse, Hingham, MA
D)
Architectural
Handbooks:
Leading
Classical Architectural Handbooks
Week #5 (Feb. 13): "The Early Life, Education and Architectural
Experiences of Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1770"
Reference:
"The
Capitol
is a light and airy structure, with a portico
in front of two orders, the lower of which, being Doric,
is tolerably just in its proportions and ornaments, save
only that the inter-colonnations are too large.The upper
(order) is ionic, much too small for that on which it is
mounted, its ornaments not proper to the order, nor
proportioned within themselves. It is crowned with a
pediment, which is too high for its span. Yet, on the
whole, it is the most pleasing piece of architecture we
have." Thomas Jefferson on mid-18th Century Capitol
Bldg. - Williamsburg
Readings:
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp.221-309.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 286-292.
Other: A. Other Mid-18th century Virginia Architecture:
Tuckahoe Plantation
George
Wythe Home, Williamsburg, Va. (c.1750-55)
Carter's Grove,
Williamsburg, Va. (c. 1755)
Stratford
Hall Plantation, Va. (c. 1735)
Rosewell
B. Palladio in the mid-18th century American colonies
Drayton Hall, Charleston, S.C. (ca.
1738)
Gunston Hall Plantation, Va. (c.
1755)
Redwood
Library
Touro
Synagogue
Brick
Market Place (1762);
Reference:
"The
house, of which Mr. Jefferson was the architect,
and often the builder, is constructed in an Italian style,
and is quite tasteful, although not however without
some faults; it consists of a large square pavilion, into
which one enters through two porticoes ornamented
with columns. the ground floor consists chiefly of a
large and lofty salon, or drawing room, which is to
be decorated entirely in the antique style." His house
resembles none of the others seen in this country; so
that it may be said that Mr. Jefferson is the first
American who has consulted the Fine Arts to know
how he should shelter himself from the weather."
Marquis de Chastellux - on Jefferson's Early Monticello (1782)
Readings:
W. H. Adams, Jefferson's Monticello (1983), pp. 39-85.
J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello (1988), pp. 65-93.
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp.311-366.
Reports: Student Research Topic Progress Reports
Other:
"Jefferson tours Annapolis & Philadelphia - 1766"
Annapolis
Independence Hall
Christ Church
Carpenters
Hall (1770)
Week #7 (Feb. 27): "Jefferson, His European Experience
and French
Neo-Classicism: 1784-1789"
Reference:
"We took for our model what is called the Maison
quarree of
Nismes, one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful and
precious morsel of architecture left us by antiquity. It was built
by Caius and Lucius Caesar, and repaired by Louis XV, and 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 travelers have
communicated to us. It is very simple, but is noble beyond
expression, and would have done honor to any country, as
presenting to travelers a specimen of taste in our infancy,
promising much for our maturer age." Thomas Jefferson to
James Madison, Sept. 20, 1785 in Fiske Kimball, "Thomas
Jefferson and the First Monument of the Classical Revival in
America," Journal of the American Institute of Architects,
Vol. III, #9, September 1915, p. 375
"Here I am, Madam, gazing whole hours at the Maison
quarree,
like a lover at his mistress. The stocking-weavers and silk
spinners around it consider me as an hypo-chondriac Englishman,
about to write with a pistol the last chapter of his history. This
is the second time I have been in love since I left Paris. The first
was with a Diana at the Chateau de Laye Epinaye in the
Beaujolois, a delicious morsel of sculpture, by Michael Angelo
Slodtz. This, you will say, was in rule, to fall in love with a fine
woman: but, with a house! It is out of all precedent! No, madam,
it is not without a precedent in my own history. While at Paris,
I was violently smitten with the hotel de Salm,
and used to go to
the Thuileries almost daily to look at it. The loueuse des chaises,
inattentive to my passion, never had the complaisance to place a
chair there; so that, sitting on the parapet, and twisting my neck
round to see the object of my admiration, I generally left it with
a torticollis. From Lyons to Nismes I have been nourished with
the remains of Roman grandeur. They have always brought you
to my mind, because I know your affection for whatever is
Roman and noble." Thomas Jefferson to Madame de Tesse,
March 20, 1787, in Merrill D. Peterson (ed.), The Portable
Thomas Jefferson, p. 418.
Readings: W. H. Adams, Jefferson's Monticello
(1983),
pp. 87-115.
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp.367-491.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 293-98.
Other: Neo-classical
Artists in France: 1784-89
Jacques-Louis
David
Jean-Antoine
Houdon
Week #8 (Mar. 13): "The First American Neo-Classical
Civic Building:
Jefferson's VA Capitol in Richmond" & "Jefferson,
the Arbiter of Architectural Taste in Washington,
D.C."
Reference: "The Capitol in the city of Richmond in Virginia is on
the model
of the Temple of Erectheus at Athens, of Balbec and of the Maison
Quaree of Nismes, all of which are nearly of the same form and
proportions, and are considered as the most perfect examples of
Cubic architecture as the Pantheon of Rome of the Spherical.
Their dimensions not being sufficient for the purposes of the
Capitol, they were enlarged, but their proportions vigorously
preserved. The Capitol is of brick, one hundred and thirty-four
feet long, severnty feet wide, and forty-five feet high, exclusive
of the basement. Twenty-eight of its feet is occupied by a portico
of the whole breadth of the house, shewing six columns in front,
and two intercolonnations in flank. It is of a single order, which
is Ionic; its columns four feet two inches diameter, and the
entablature running round the whole building. The Portico is
crowned by a Pediment, the height of which is two-ninths of its
span." Thomas Jefferson, Miscellaneous Papers, in Fiske
Kimball, "Thomas Jefferson and the First Monument of the
Classical Revival in America," Journal of the American Institute
of Architects, Vol. III, September, 1915, #9, p. 376.
Readings:
W.
S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp. 493-529.
Fiske Kimball, "Thomas Jefferson and the First Monument
of the Classical Revival in America," Journal of the American
Institute of Architects, Vol. III, September, 1915, #9, p. 371-81.
J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello (1988), pp. 209-238.
Other: Virginia
Capitol
View
from the West
Second
View from West
Third
view from West
Fourth
View from West
Fifth
View from West
View
from East
U.S. Capitol
Early Capitol
Ideological
Symbolism of D.C. Capitol
History of Capitol
Building
The Competition
for its Design
Virtual Tour
The President's House
History of the
White House
Week #9 (Mar. 20): "Late
Monticello - Jefferson's Classical Museum"
& the Grounds
and Outbuildings"
References: "The friezes at Monticello were all adapted from
various
Roman buildings. As Roman art is very rhetorical, the objects
in them have both a direct and an associative meaning. The
latter usually refers to Rome's claims, and its need to instill the
belief that the earth will be fecund and the gods encouraging.
the ox skulls are among the most common of religious symbols,
and refer to the sacrifice of the bulls themselves. Garlands are
also commonly used, and probably relate to the festive nature of
high holidays, as well as the fecundity of the Roman dominions
under the Roman Peace. Both garlands and skulls are to be
foundin Jefferson's Bedchamber. The instruments in the Parlor
frieze refer to the sacrifice. .....As Jefferson said: 'The internal
of the house contains specimens of all the different orders
except the composite which is not introduced. the Hall is in the
Ionic, the Dining Room is in the Doric, the Parlor is in the
Corinthian, and the Dome in the Attic. In the other rooms are
introduced several different forms of those orders, all in the
truest proportions according to Palladio.'" F. D. Nichols and
J. A. Bear, Jr., Monticello: A Guidebook (Thomas Jefferson
Memorial Foundation, 1993) p. 21-22.
"The spot that Jefferson had selected - remote, noble, and
proudly commanding spectacular views in all directions -
identifies his imagination as much with the romanticism of
the late eighteenth century as with Pliny's classical scenes
of the Italian countryside." "Like his contemporaries in
Europe, Jefferson the student of classical poets probably
derived his appreciation of nature first of all from ancient
literary descriptions of Arcadia by Virgil and Homer."
W. H. Adams, Jefferson's Monticello
(1983), pp. 146 & 151..
Readings: W. H. Adams, Jefferson's
Monticello
(1983), pp. 115-235.
J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello (1988), pp. 239-338.
.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 298-316.
Week #10 (Mar. 27): Student Progress Reports
Readings: W. S. Randall, Thomas
Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp. 493-529.
J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello (1988), pp. 339-374.
Week #11 (April 3): "The
University of VA: Jefferson's Last Classical
Monument:
Part I - The Pavilions"
References: "We propose to lay off a square of about 7. or 800 [feet]
the
outside of which we shall arrange separate pavilions, one
for each professor and his scholars. each pavilion will have
a schoolroom below and 2 rooms for the Professor above and
between pavilion and pavilion a range of dormintories for
the boys, one story high...this sketch will give you an idea of
it. The whole of the pavilions and dormitories to be united by
colonnade in front of the height of the lower story of the
pavilions, under which they may go dry from school to school.
The colonnade will be of square brick pilasters (at first) with a
Tuscan entablature, now what we wish is that these pavilions
as they will shew themselves above the dormitories, [should]
be models of taste and good architecture, & of a variety of
appearance, no two alike, so as tos erve as specimens for the
architectural lectures." Letter of Thomas Jefferson, May 9,
1817, to William Thornton in Thomas Jefferson's Academical
Village, R. C. Wilson (ed.), University Press of Virginia, 1993,
pp. 16-17.
"Jefferson saw architecture as an expression of a people's
ideas and aspirations and it mattered to him enormously
that the buildings of the new republic should be based on
the best available models since the nation had no models
of its own. The past was to be the starting point for a new
and different future." Michael Brawne, University of
Virginia: The Lawn, Phaidon Press Ltd, 1994, p.3.
Readings: Richard. G. Wilson (ed), Thomas Jefferson's
Academical
Village: The Creation of an Architectural Masterpiece
(The University Press of Virginia, 1993), pp.1-74.
Week #12 (April 10):"The
University of VA: Jefferson's Last Classical
Monument:
Part II - The
Rotunda; and the
Legacy of Jefferson's Classical Architecture"
Readings: Richard. G. Wilson (ed), Thomas Jefferson's
Academical
Village: The Creation of an Architectural Masterpiece
(The University Press of Virginia, 1993), pp.75-83.
W. H. Pierson, American Buldings and Their Architects,
(1976), pp. 316-334.
W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp. 530-583.
Lasala, Joseph M. "Comparative Analysis: Thomas Jefferson's
Rotunda and the Pantheon in Rome," Virginia Studio Record,
1, #2 (1988) 84-87.
Week #13 (April 17): Field Trip - Gore Place Mansion, Waltham, MA
Readings: W. S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson: A Life, (1993), pp. 584-95.
Week #14 (April 24): ): "Poplar
Forest: Jefferson's Neo-Classical
Experimental Retreat Home" & Epilogue
Readings: J. McLaughlin, Jefferson and
Monticello (1988), pp. 375-385.
W. H. Adams, Jefferson's Monticello
(1983), pp. 237-265.
Student Presentations - date (to be determined)