Wooden keepsake box with porcelain tile featuring architectural images of the Capitol. Exclusive to The Virginia Shop!

Dimensions: 5" x 5" x 2.75" [with lid closed]

Although Richmond became the capital of Virginia in 1779, the design for a new capitol building was not made until 1785, when the Commonwealth's Directors of Public Buildings requested a design from Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) while he was serving as minister to France. In his design, Jefferson united the lofty principles and grand scale of the classical tradition with established Virginia customs. He consulted major architectural treatises on Greek and Roman temples and then probably developed the idea of the capitol as a "temple" to Liberty or Justice. Charles-Louis Clérisseau, a celebrated architectural draftsman, persuaded Jefferson to shape the Capitol exterior on the example of the Maison Carrée at Nimes, which Clérisseau convinced Jefferson was one of the greatest Roman buildings.