Classical The Jefferson Memorial
forms a north-south axis with the White House. Architect John
Russell Pope adapted Rome's Pantheon in deference to Jefferson's love
for classical architecture. Jefferson, an amateur architect
himself, had used similar circular domed structures at his home,
Monticello, and at the University of Virginia. However, some
critics derided Pope's design as old-fashioned, while others argued that
Jefferson's philosophy dictated a more utilitarian structure.
Eventually, the Pope memorial was dedicated in 1943.
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Sculpture A wide plaza overlooks
the Tidal Basin with its cherry trees, and stairs lead up through a
portico, surrounded by a colonnade encircling an open center. The
pediment supports marble figures of Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John
Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, members of the committee
that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Rudolph Evans
produced the central 5.8 meter (19 foot) bronze of Jefferson, and exerps
of his speeches and writings are carved into the walls.
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