457. ARCHITECTURE, Virginia Capitol.—[further continued]..
The capitol in the city of
Richmond, in Virginia, is the model of the
Temples of Erectheus at Athens, of Balbec,
and of the Maison quarrée 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 is of the spherical. Their
dimensions not being sufficient for the purposes
of the Capitol, they were enlarged, but their
proportions rigorously observed. The Capitol
is of brick, one hundred and thirty four feet
long, seventy feet wide, and forty-five feet high,
exclusive of the basement. Twenty-eight feet
of its length is occupied by a portico of the
whole breadth of the house, showing 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
their entablature running round the whole
building. The portico is crowned by a pediment,
the height of which is two-ninths of its
span.—
Jefferson Manuscripts. Washington ed. ix, 446.
