The exterior of Thomas Jefferson's house is simply breathtaking! After recently studying Greek and Roman art and architecture, I can see the features that are very common in the various styles and periods. The columns are a characteristic of architecture that began way back in ancient Greece. Many of the pagan temples erected in Greece began using columns of the Doric order. It slowly transformed into the Ionic order and soon enough, the Corinthian order. Thomas Jefferson used columns on his front porch, a feature of Roman architecture. The dome on the top of his house can be seen in the House of Nero and the Pantheon. The Pantheon is the most well known dome building and it is amazing that they were able to accomplish the amazing building with all so little technology. Just today we watched a video on the Parthenon and the dome they were able to build back then. They said that today, we would not be able to build such a grand dome without using a computer and modern technology. It is easy to see that Thomas Jefferson knew very well the techniques and features of the Classical Greek and Roman era's. The features used show that Jefferson is a very refined and educated man. I am sure that was what he was going for!
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