THIRD PERIOD
THE BUILDING OF THE UNIVERSITY History of the University of Virginia, 1819-1919; The Lengthened Shadow of One Man, Volume I | ||
V. Course of Construction
Although Central College had been raised to the platform of a university, the general outline of the original plan of building underwent but few alterations. Jefferson had drafted that plan for a broad and populous seat of learning, and now that this consummation of his hopes was assured, he had but to push to a termination what he had long ago conceived, and what he had already substantially begun. The scheme of construction which he submitted to the General Assembly in the Rockfish Gap Report made no addition to the scheme in harmony with which the carpenters and bricklayers were already at work in the old ferry field: and in the letter written by him to William C. Rives, only three days after the
The first and only really important modification that was made in the setting was in April, 1820, when Jefferson, confronted with the necessity of choosing the site of the first hotel, decided that he would not place it on an extension of the Lawn in alignment with the pavilions, but instead would erect it on what was afterwards named Western Back Street, now West Range. Thus began the existing array of four instead of two parallel rows of buildings. In the original draft, the distance from the eastern line to the western was seven hundred and seventy-one feet; but, in fixing the sites of the pavilions, Jefferson contracted the interval. The addition of hotels and dormitories, in the form of parallel East and West Ranges, enabled him to return to the dimensions of the original plat. He seems to have at first intended that each of the lateral ranges should have its front in precise correspondence with the front of that side of the Lawn; and he was ingenious enough to devise a scheme by which the denizens of these lateral ranges could be prevented from peering from their front windows into the ugly premises in the rear of the adjacent parallel pavilions and dormitories. But the expense of carrying this out was shown to be so great that he ultimately determined to change the plan to the one afterwards
Taking the noble group of buildings in the mass as completed, they enable us to understand clearly Jefferson's purpose of teaching the principles of architecture by example in this new seat of culture. It will be recalled that, in the Rockfish Gap Report, he had recommended the study of the fine arts; but the General Assembly, in the Act of Incorporation, had pointedly omitted that theme in enumerating the courses of instruction. Jefferson got around this tacit injunction by persuading the Board of Visitors to enter military and naval architecture among the subjects to be taught in the school of mathematics. It was, however, in the peculiarities of the surrounding buildings that the fundamental lessons of the art were to be learned. "The introduction of chaste models," he wrote to William C. Rives, "taken from the finest remains of antiquity, of the orders of architecture, and of specimens of the choicest samples of each older, was considered as a necessary foundation of the instruction of the students in this art." And so highly did he value this aspect of the University edifices that he urged upon the same correspondent, -at this time a distinguished member of Congress, -that the capitals and bases recently arrived from Italy should be exempted from custom duties because they were designed as much
There was another practical reason which Jefferson gave in justification of that splendid but costly architectural scheme. It was his conviction that, without a "distinguished scale in structure," to employ his own words, foreign scholars of celebrity would hardly be willing to accept chairs in so new an institution. This was a somewhat fanciful notion, for certainly the only alien professors who ever occupied those chairs apparently made no inquiry at all as to the character of the University's architecture, when they entered into their engagements. The prestige of this seat of learning, in our own country, was unquestionably enhanced from the start by its noble physical setting, and this, perhaps, has had a calculable influence in securing for it, throughout its history, the services of the ablest and ripest American scholars.[39] It is quite possible, -and it is no discredit to Jefferson to say so, -that he would have followed the plan which he did adopt even if there had been no practical recommendation
The entire setting of the original group was classical in its character. Beginning at the head of the West Lawn, it will be found that Pavilion I was an adoption of the Doric of the Diocletian Baths; Pavilion III, Corinthian of Palladio; Pavilion V, Ionic of Palladio; Pavilion VII, Doric of Palladio; and Pavilion IX, Ionic of the Temple of Fortuna Virilis. Beginning again on the east side of the Lawn and descending from the north end, we observe Pavilion II, Ionic, after the style of the same temple; Pavilion IV, Doric of Albano; Pavilion VI, Ionic of the Theatre of Marcellus; Pavilion VIII, Corinthian of the Baths of Diocletian; Pavilion X, Doric of the Theatre of Marcellus; and the Rotunda, after the Pantheon at Rome.
Jefferson reduced, modified, and adapted to new purposes, but still preserved with fidelity, the art of the originals, both in their lines and in their proportions. His inspiration, in general, was derived from Palladio, but when his own judgment, in any instance, suggested a departure, he did not shrink from following it, and in doing so, exhibited always precision and certainty. Sometimes, he preferred a simpler form, as in his copy of the pilasters of the Temple of Nerva, because he thought that it was "better suited to our plainer style." It has been said of
The same feeling of admiration was aroused in other men of culture who visited the spot at this time, although the Rotunda, the most imposing of all the structures, was not yet fully completed. Thus Garrett Minor, writing to Cabell, in 1822, said, "I was much pleased and delighted with the beauty, convenience, and splendor of the establishment." The word "splendor," used both
Even the persons who were most enthusiastic in commenting on the extraordinary beauty of Jefferson's conception as incorporated in the Lawn and Ranges, could not blind themselves entirely to the inconveniences of his plan, and particularly to those connected with the dormitories. With doors facing either east or west, and with one small window only breaking the back wall of each room, there was little prospect of their catching the southern breeze during the heats of early summer. The burning rays of the declining sun struck the face of the western arcade in June and September,[41] the closing and opening months of the session, and the cold eastern winds poured against the eastern arcade both in winter and early spring alike. It was apprehended by some, at the beginning, that the constant noise of tramping feet under the cover of the arcades would disturb the students engaged with their books in their several apartments. The long, flat roofs of the Lawn, under the thawing of recurring snows, soon developed a tendency to leak, while smoking chimneys, within a short time, proved such an annoyance to the professors that Bonnycastle wrote an elaborate treatise to demonstrate how this irritating evil could be remedied.
The lecture-hall reserved in each pavilion became almost at once a source of perplexity; it was anticipated that some members of the Faculty would draw classes too small in size to occupy the whole of their several halls, whilst others would be so popular in themselves or their
According to tradition, the purpose which Jefferson had in view for these single ground-floor apartments was blocked, not by formal resolution of the Board, but by that more delicate and subtle instrument of change, a woman's will. It is said that the wives of the professors, finding that they needed the lecture-halls for reception or dining-rooms, brought furtive conjugal influences to
Not only was Jefferson the author of the common plan for Central College, and its successor, the University of Virginia, but, in spite of the burden of his increasing years, he continued to act as the practical superintendent of the building down to the completion of the entire group of structures, with the exception of the Rotunda, which, at his death, was still unfinished in some details of importance. He was assisted in this supervision by Cocke, and he possessed in the proctor, Arthur S. Brockenbrough, a vigilant and well-informed agent; but the bulk even of the specifications came from his brain and pen. In the interval between February and October, 1819, he drafted the plans and wrote out the specifications for five pavilions, with their adjacent dormitories, and also for five hotels. In 1821, he drew up the plans and specifications for the Rotunda. He was now in his seventy-ninth year. After the celebration of his eightieth birthday, he prepared the plans for an observatory and an anatomical hall. The entire set of these original plans, elevations, and specifications have been preserved, but only a few of the working drawings for the guidance of the builders have survived, since most of them were destroyed in their necessarily rough use by the mechanics. The knowledge which he had acquired of materials in erecting the Monticello mansion was put to practical service on afar greater scale iii the construction of the University buildings; he was now as able to test the quality of brick, stone, mortar, and lumber, and to calculate their value, as the most expert artisan on the ground, while his taste in ornamentation was reflected in the
Under his watchful and experienced eye, the progress of construction from the day that the Visitors of Central College turned the property over to the Visitors of the University was rapid and uninterrupted. The committee of superintendence, Cocke and himself, had at first contemplated the erection of a hotel, so as to open the institution to students during the following winter, but, as early as May 12 (1819), they had, with the Board's approval, decided to finish the entire group of buildings before taking this final step. Workingmen were soon engaged in digging the foundations for the two additional pavilions and their dormitories, which had been authorized in anticipation of the payment of the annuity of the ensuing year. We obtain a glimpse of the busy scene on the University grounds in August (1819) from a letter written by George W. Spooner, who represented the proctor in the work out of doors during his absence in Richmond. "Mr. Phillips," he says, "has commenced to lay in bricks, and has the basement story (of one of the new pavilions) nearly up. Mr. Ware's foundation will be ready in a few days, but he is not yet ready for laying, not having burnt any of his bricks yet. Mr. Perry will begin as soon as they have succeeded in blasting a rock which has impeded their progress in digging his foundation. The two Italians are going on quite leisurely. They have cut three bases and one Corinthian cap. The two from Philadelphia I went out to the quarries to see. They appear to go on quite slowly, owing to the difficulty of quarrying the very hard rock. Mr. Dinsmore is puting up modillions in the cornice of his pavilion. Mr. Oldham is making his frame." [42]
By December 17 (1819), the brickwork of the five pavilions, with their respective dormitories, situated on West Lawn, had been completed, whilst the rafters of the roofs of two pavilions situated on East Lawn were in the course of being adjusted. By November 21, 1821, six pavilions, eighty-two dormitories, and two hotels, were in condition for immediate occupation; and by October 7, 1822, ten pavilions, one hundred and nine dormitories, and six hotels. Only a small amount of plastering remained to be finished. The gardens had not been entirely laid off, nor the serpentine walls, designed to bar them against intrusion, erected. A few capitals also had not as yet arrived from Italy. By October 6, 1823, all these deficiencies had been supplied. But the Rotunda had still to be carried through the last stage of construction.
It has, undoubtedly, had a profound influence in preserving the alumni's affection for, and increasing their pride in, their alma mater, the University of Virginia.
THIRD PERIOD
THE BUILDING OF THE UNIVERSITY History of the University of Virginia, 1819-1919; The Lengthened Shadow of One Man, Volume I | ||