architects - Thomas Jefferson

Since the Virginia builders had never seen a Roman temple, Jefferson had a plaster model for his design made by a Paris modeler.

Seen across the valley, the Capitol's portico struck a new note of monumental grandeur so eagerly desired by the new country which subconsciously hoped to throw off colonial dependence on European fashions and find an appropriate American style. Romantic association of the new republic with that of ancient Rome heightened the appeal of antique models as a source for such a style. Thus, Jefferson realized the first temple building for practical use. He hoped by this means "to reconcile to (his countrymen) the respect of the world and procure them its praise." In 1799, this desire was already answered; by the Duc de Rochefoucauld-Liancourt who described the building as beyond comparison the most beautiful, the most noble, and the greatest in American." Viewed closely its purity was marred by mundane chimneys and windows, unfluted columns, wooden entablature, adn crude execution.