Jefferson and Palladio: Constructing a New World

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), a cosmopolitan figure with rural roots, was a master of the knowledge of his time. He drafted The Declaration of Independence (1776), and thus founded a new view of the proper relation between governed and government. Jefferson was the architect of the new America, not just in a political sense, but in a literal sense as well. Architecture had an important place in his personal and public agenda. A self-taught architect, Jefferson buildings are amongst America's most famous: Monticello, the Virginia State Capitol and the University of Virginia are the starting points of American classical architecture. Jefferson was guided by his admiration for Palladio's Four Books on Architecture, which provided him with key architectural forms and ideas. Palladio showed him how the admired building types of the ancient Romans could be adapted to modern purposes and provide a rational, harmonious framework for living and for building a new society. Contents: Palladio in America by James S. Ackerman; Jefferson and Palladio by Guido Beltramini; Jefferson: Architecture and Democracy by Fulvio Lenzo; Photographing Jefferson by Filippo Romano; Palladianism in America Before Jefferson by Bruce Boucher; The National Survey Grid and the American Democracy by Catherine Maumi; Jefferson's Creation of American Classical Architecture by Richard Guy Wilson; Jefferson and the First Public Statues in the United States by Giovanna Capitelli; Canova and the Monument to George Washington by Mario Guderzo; Palladio: Materials and Building Techniques Damiana by Lucia Paternò; Jefferson Builder by Travis McDonald. Published to accompany an exhibition: Jefferson and Palladio: Constructing a New World, Vicenza, Palladium Museum, 19 September 2015 - 28 March 2016