Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 to 4 July 1826) was a Founding Father and third president of the United States, and in this atlas he is represented as an architect. Born in Shadwell, Virginia, he mastered architecture through self-study, relying chiefly on Andrea Palladio's 1570 Four Books of Architecture, and wrote that architecture was his delight. He spent most of his adult life designing and redesigning Monticello, turning it into a neoclassical masterpiece in the Palladian style. He was a strong admirer of Greek and Roman architecture, which he believed best represented American democracy. His designs include the Virginia State Capitol and the University of Virginia, where each academic unit is a pavilion with a two-story temple front and the library Rotunda is modelled on the Roman Pantheon. He helped popularize the Neo-Palladian style in the United States.