The year is 1804. James Bowdoin III, now the American minister to Spain, comes across a marble sculpture while visiting Paris. Believing that Thomas Jefferson would enjoy it, he ships the piece to Virginia with a letter written, “a Cleopatra copied and reduced from the ancient one now at Paris.”
On February 5, 1769, Thomas Jefferson replied to his cousin’s request that his son study law under him. Writing from Shadwell , his boyhood home, Jefferson said he must decline: "I do not expect to be here more than two months in the whole between this and November next, at which time I propose to...
This summer, Monticello’s Restoration Department will be removing the East Portico’s mid-20th-century wooden beadboard ceiling and restoring its Jefferson-era finish, a traditional three-coat lime plaster. An 1807 letter from mason and plasterer Hugh Chisholm to Jefferson provides the best...
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson took a serious fall in Paris, dislocating and possibly breaking his right wrist. The injury healed slowly, and though he regained use, stiffness and pain in his joint troubled him as he aged. Years later, retired to Monticello and searching for comfort, Jefferson got a...
During an annual inspection of Monticello, we noticed that the material that has been used to fill cracks on several of the wooden panels surrounding Monticello’s main floor doorways is failing in some areas. Since wood expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity, cracks in wood...
The Restoration Department recently brought in conservator Andy Compton to restore the composition ornament on the Hall fireplace mantel frieze. Composition ornament (or “compo”) is a putty-like material made from chalk, linseed oil, hide glue and pine rosin. When warm, it can be pressed into molds...
Last week our Curatorial and Restoration teams joined forces for an important project: thoroughly cleaning Monticello from floor to ceiling. Affectionally (and accurately) dubbed the “Big Clean,” this annual event helps us preserve the house and prepare for a new year of visitors—but it’s also a...
Had it not been for the Levy family, Monticello might not exist today. Indeed, without the generosity and foresight of our supporters, so much of our work might not be possible.
Begun in 1768, the South Pavilion is the first brick building built on Monticello’s mountaintop, and the first home of Thomas Jefferson and his wife Martha after they were married in 1772. It has one particular identifying feature that separates it from other buildings: the roof. Originally covered...
While Jefferson often gets the credit, it was enslaved chefs like James Hemings, who created Monticello's famed "half Virginian, half French" cuisine. Food Historian Leni Sorensen explains how Hemings's training in France and the installation of stew stoves changed cooking here.
