University of Virginia Library

VIII. The Building of the Rotunda

The various details dwelt upon in the preceding chapter are pertinent only to the pavilions, dormitories, and hotels. The Rotunda was not only separate from these edifices in a physical way, but the history of its construction is equally distinct from theirs. Most of the buildings of the University were erected simultaneously, and all were practically completed before the excavations began for the foundations of the dominating edifice. In the earliest scheme, it will be recalled, the pavilions were to be placed on each of the three lines forming the boundaries of the first plat; and there were to be twenty dormitories attached to each pavilion. When it was decided to raise an imposing structure irk the middle of the north line, this scheme was altered, -instead of the original number of pavilions and dormitories to be erected on the east and west lines respectively, it was necessary now to build five pavilions, with ten dormitories attached to each.

Although the Rotunda, the central feature of the beautiful architectural setting of the University, seems to have had, in its main lines at least, its germ with Latrobe, yet in the shape which the suggestion, once dropped in Jefferson's mind, finally took, that building was more distinctly characteristic of his classical taste than any other standing on the ground. It must have been as perceptible

to him as to Thornton and Latrobe that a stately edifice rising on this conspicuous site would enhance the imposing aspect of the whole group; and it is quite probable that, -in the beginning at least, -when there was so slim a prospect of the College ever becoming a university, his omission of such a structure was due, as already intimated, to the dictation of economy. It is easy to conceive of the artistic delight which he must have felt in planning for such a building; and it was due to him alone, apparently, that the Pantheon was adopted as the model. That temple was considered by many to be the noblest specimen of the architecture of antiquity surviving to the present day; and it was reproduced with perfect fidelity in the plates of Palladio, so well known to Jefferson.

This famous building was in the form of a cylinder surmounted by a hemisphere. The exterior walls were of concrete, faced with brick and marble. The dome was of concrete also, with a bronzed outer surface and a gilded ceiling. Sixteen granite columns, crowned by Corinthian capitals of marble, upheld the weight of the portico. A row of fluted marble pillars ran around the circumference of the great apartment, while the interior walls were covered with variegated marbles, upon which, and upon the floor, shone the rays of the sun falling through a circular orifice in the top of the dome.

In reproducing this splendid edifice, Jefferson was compelled to use the humble materials of brick and mortar instead of brick and concrete; plaster and white-wash instead of a marble facing; tin plates instead of bronze tiles. In one detail, however, the building in imitation is superior to the one copied. The masterpiece of Agrippa is approached by only five steps, a condition that imparts a squat appearance to the structure looked at from the front. The Rotunda, on the other hand, is approached

by fourteen steps, which to the eye lifts it up from the ground, and imparts to it a lighter and loftier aspect. By thus elevating the floor of its portico, the height of its cylindrical dome was so far increased as to be equal in degree to the diameter. This diameter is one half of the Pantheon's in extent, and the area of the edifice is about one fourth more contracted than that of its prototype. At first, it was Jefferson's design, as already stated, to lay off a lawn on either side of the Rotunda, but low-roofed gymnasia were afterwards substituted for them, -not perhaps because they enhanced the beauty of the central building, but more probably because the space was too valuable to be left in a purely ornamental state.

The Rockfish Gap Report recommended that the Rotunda should contain apartments for religious worship and public examinations, and also for instruction in music, drawing, and similar studies, but that the section of it which would be immediately under the dome should be reserved for the storage of books. That the latter was the principal end which the building was expected to subserve was demonstrated by the fact that, in the successive reports of the .Visitors, it is ordinarily designated as the "Library." There was no provision for numerous lecture-rooms in the proposed structure, the explanation of which lay, of course, in the assignment of halls for that purpose in the pavilions; but after the edifice was finished, the little use which could be made of the apartments below the highest floor for the objects for which they were intended, -there being no demand for music and drawing lessons, and the examinations taking place only at long intervals, -led to the shifting of the lecture-rooms from the pavilions, where they caused so much domestic awkwardness, -to these vacant apartments in the Rotunda.

The first step towards this was the order of the Board of Visitors that the rooms should be kept for such schools as were attended by so many students that they could not be conveniently accommodated in a pavilion lecture-hall; and on the same occasion, an apartment in the basement was fixed upon as the future chemical laboratory.[45]

There were not sufficient funds on hand, during the early period of construction, to permit of the erection of so large and costly an edifice as the Rotunda. In April, 1821, the Board of Visitors ordered the committee of superintendence to refrain from entering into any contract for its building until they were fully satisfied that the expenditure "on its account would not interfere with the completion of the pavilions, dormitories, and hotels," the erection of which had either begun or would soon begin. This made it impossible to start upon its actual construction before the General Assembly had appropriated a large sum for that purpose. It was not until October 7, 1822, indeed, that the proctor was told to stipulate with "skilful and responsible undertakers" for its erection according to the provisions of the plan already in his possession. Cocke, as a member of the committee of superintendence, had criticized the disjointedness of the terms

in accord with which the pavilions, dormitories, and hotels had been built, and he now begged Cabell to support him in the resolution "not to permit the last grand building to be carried on in the loose and undefined manner as to the contracts, which, in the previous parts of the work, had been productive of so much disappointment to us, and had been the just cause of so much dissatisfaction to the public." The persons who, in the beginning, submitted bids were either too lacking in capital to dispense with the aid of advances by the University, or they demanded a fifty per cent increase in the figures of their estimates. Neither Jefferson nor the proctor, -perhaps, from Cocke's warning, -thought it judicious to accept any offer on these conditions, and for that reason, the Rotunda was practically erected, piece by piece and stage by stage, by the University itself, instead of being turned over in the end to the Board of Visitors, an edifice completed but still one to be paid for.

Among the builders of the Rotunda were Thorn and Chamberlain, to whom were assigned the brickwork; for which they were required to furnish the mortar; and they also agreed to bring on trained men from Philadelphia for the actual bricklaying. Thorn received a wage of fifty dollars a month for overlooking the manufacture of the bricks, since most of this material was made in the University kiln by hired labor. From a letter written in February to Cocke by Neilson, we learn that Jefferson was full "of brickmaking ideas at present," which clearly indicates how minute was the supervision which he gave even to so ordinary a detail. Dinsmore and Neilson were the principal agents in carrying through carpenters and joiners' tasks for the new building; but the lumber, in this instance, as in that of the brick, was furnished at the University's expense, although the firm

made all the purchases; and it was also held responsible for the accuracy of the bricklaying.[46] The charges for measuring all the building work periodically as it went forward were borne in equal shares by the University and the contractors.

On July 4, Jefferson was able to write to Cabell, in a spirit of unrepressed exultation, that the Rotunda "was rising nobly." In the course of 1823 not less than thirty persons, whether or not regularly engaged in business, supplied the different articles that were required for this building, such as lime, lumber, dressed plank, shingles, hardware and iron; and there were almost uncountable bills for hauling as well as for providing food for man and beast employed in its construction. The persons who furnished the principal materials were the same as those who had furnished the like for the pavilions, dormitories, and hotels. For instance, three hundred thousand bricks, in addition to those burnt in the University kiln, were purchased of John M. Perry. The most admirable features of the Rotunda were the ornate capitals and bases. In September, 1823, Jefferson and Cocke, as the committee of superintendence, entered into a contract with Giacomo Raggi, which obliged him to obtain in person in Italy for that edifice ten Corinthian and two pilaster bases of Carrara marble. He was to receive sixty-five dollars for each of the Corinthian, and thirty-two dollars and fifty cents for each of the pilaster, -one half of which sums was to be paid before the bases were dumped on shipboard at Leghorn, and the other half afterwards. Raggi had spent his hours of leisure in carving numerous articles in alabaster marble, and these he hoped to sell privately for his own profit;

but so improvident had he been, in spite of a high wage, that, in leaving for Richmond by coach on his way to Italy, he was compelled to ask for an advance of fifty dollars from the proctor to settle his tavern bill on his expected departure from that city, and also to cover the cost of his ocean passage. The contract proved to be futile and valueless, for while Raggi seems to have gone to Leghorn with the purpose of carrying it out, he failed, -no doubt from impecuniosity, -in fulfilling what had been required of him. The marbles were finally procured with the assistance of Thomas Appleton, and, in the course of 1825, were sent over in two vessels, one of which made port at Boston, and the other at New York. When he informed the proctor of the arrival of the ship at Boston, General Dearborn, the Collector of Customs, who had been the Secretary of War in Jefferson's Cabinet, and who, from this fact, was interested in the University, repeated Mr. Appleton's statement to him that the capitals "would be found probably superior in dimensions, but certainly equal in architectural perfection to any in the United States"; and that they were copies of those which adorned the Pantheon at Rome. There were twenty-four ponderous cases, and Dearborn recommended that a petition should be addressed to Congress to admit them free of duty. As the custom charges would run as high as $2,057.15, exemption from payment would save a large amount that might be applied to some useful purpose. There seems to have been two consignments unloaded at New York: one, of six cases; the other, by a different vessel, the Caroline, of thirty-one.

The marbles were transported to Richmond from Boston and New York by vessel, and there turned over to Colonel Bernard Peyton, the agent of the University, who seems to have looked upon the responsibility of taking

care of them as a very clumsy and perplexing burden. So prodigiously heavy were the capitals and bases that it was found very arduous to transfer them from the dock to the canal basin, from which the batteaux plying up the James set out. They weighed from three to five tons, and the question arose: were the boats wide and staunch enough to take them on board without risk? They were finally carried up the river and unloaded at Scottsville, and from that village were borne by wagons to the University. It required the services of a very capable overseer to bring about their safe delivery; and such was Lyman Peck, who superintended their removal on board the batteaux, their passage up stream, and finally their conveyance overland. Several weeks were consumed in accomplishing the entire task after the marbles had left the Richmond wharf. It was not until April 19, 1826, six months at least after their arrival in the dock there, that Colonel Peyton was able to report that, before the end of the ensuing week, the last capital would have been forwarded by water. Already the marbles which had reached the University were in the course of being put in their appointed places.

Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. A few days before he was forced to take to his bed with his fatal illness, he visited the University, and in the final glimpse which we have of him within the precincts of the institution to which he had given up all his thoughts and energies in his old age, he is seen seated and looking out through a window on the Lawn to watch the workingmen as they raised a capital to the top of the column at the southwest corner of the portico. So oblivious was he of all besides that he had unconsciously remained standing until Mr. Wertenbaker silently brought him a chair. It seems very appropriate that his last association in his own person with

the university which he loved so absorbingly should have been with the noblest of all its buildings.

Dinsmore and Neilson were sometimes disposed to act impatiently in their intercourse with the Faculty. They were pointedly complained of, on one occasion, as replying offensively when they were asked to provide shelves for the books in the galleries of the library. Certain stairways of this apartment had not yet been finished, and these builders resented the suggestion that the work should be hastened on this part at the expense of other parts equally important, although many volumes thereby might have been made accessible for use at an earlier date. Nor did they concern themselves about the deafening noise raised by their tools. Dinsmore was requested to remove a workingman whose hammer rendered it impossible for one of the professors to go on with his lecture; the only answer from him, according to the report of the Faculty, was "a gross insult in the presence of the class." What he had said was, no doubt, true enough at that time; namely, that "the professors had no business in the building," and it seems to have been this fact alone that had caused him to threaten, with a fierce oath, "to turn them all out." It is quite probable that the inconveniences of the lecture-halls in the pavilions had proved so irksome to the teachers, -not to bring in their wives, -that some of them had been forced to take refuge in the half-finished lecture-rooms of the Rotunda, to the natural discomposure of both Dinsmore and Neilson, who were endeavoring to hurry forward its completion.

In October, 1826, the noble apartment reserved for the library was on the point of being finished; only a flight of steps and the laying of the marble flags on the floor of the portico were thereafter wanting to complete

the whole building. The adjacent gymnasia, however, were still in the course of construction. In November, the proctor was able to announce that the Rotunda, although the work on it was not entirely concluded, was in actual use; and that the professor of chemistry was now in possession of two rooms on the floor below. A third room was used for the purpose of both chemistry and natural history; and there was, in addition, a large lecture-room. There were still to receive the last touches one large and one small oval room, as well as the general entrance hall. It was not until 1832 that the stone steps were finally erected, but, in the meanwhile, wooden ones had certainly been in use as a temporary substitute. So defective did the fireplaces, by 1827, turn out to be, that the Faculty, in disgust, petitioned the Board to set up stoves, and the ingenuity of Bonnycastle was sharply tested to find a remedy for the smoking chimneys.