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Classical currents: Antiquity and America
The presence of ancient Greece and Rome can be felt in many places in the early history of the United States of America. Lucia Marchini speaks to Sean Burrus and Emilie Johnson to find out how Americans like Thomas Jefferson were putting antiquity to use as a new nation was forged.
Despite some 3,000 miles of ocean separating the continents, the newly independent American republic maintained close connections to Europe. Founding figures Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all served diplomatic roles in France, while elements of classical architecture, like the columned porticoes and pediments seen in ruins across Italy, Greece, and the south of France, made their way into the grand public edifices required by the new nation. These ancient references also manifested in American homes, through both architecture and furnishings.
John Smibert, The Continence of Scipio. Oil on canvas, c.1726. Size: 116.2 x 159.1cm. IMAGE: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, B
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