“Architecture is my delight, and putting up and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements.”
-Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson spent most of his adult life designing and redesigning Monticello over a period of roughly forty years. He began leveling the top of a mountain near Charlottesville, Virginia in 1768. Monticello means “little mountain” in Old Italian and would be the name Jefferson would choose for what became a life long project. Through his family, he had inherited some 5000 acres of land and some two hundred slaves. After 10 years of marriage, Jefferson’s wife, Martha, died from what medical historians believe was most likely diabetes. Jefferson promised her on her deathbed that he would never remarry and was quite depressed after her death. Jefferson was heavily influenced architecturally after being appointed Diplomat to France in 1784. He brought his building ideas home a couple years later and was anxious to incorporate them into Monticello.
As you can see in my painting there are two long connecting porticos to the outbuildings. Beneath these porticos are connecting tunnels with various earth-sheltered rooms that housed a kitchen, a smokehouse, a wine cellar, a beer room, etc. The reflecting pond you see was a clever idea by Jefferson. It kept alive the fish caught from the nearby Rivanna River so fresh fish could be netted, cooked and served at a moments notice. Jefferson himself laid out the landscaping and flowerbeds and, even today, the gardeners try to maintain the layout and variety of plants true to his original visions.
Jefferson first drafted this quickly drawn version.
I began the oil on canvas as a plein aire (on location) painting on July 3rd, 2009 and realized, as I was working, that the place had so much more to say about its illustrious past. I would have to do further research into its history and finish this one, in more detail, in my studio. As I painted that day, workers were busy setting up for their annual swearing in ceremony for new immigrants to the United States. The red, white and blue drapery you see on the white columns is hung every year for this event. While painting, I could not help but think what life on the plantation was like 200 years ago. Here was one of America’s giants, the father of the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States, and one of our most accomplished thinkers of early America. I could not help but think of the great irony Jefferson must have wrestled with his entire life. He knew that all men were created equal but was unable to free any of his own slaves until after his death, whereas he freed Sally Hemings’ children in accordance to his will. A DNA link exists between Thomas Jefferson and the descendents of Sally Hemings. By accounts, Sally was a fair skinned slave herself who bore six children who were also of fair skin with a strong resemblance to Thomas Jefferson. Personally, I feel Jefferson knew slavery was absolutely wrong, but in the final analysis, was unable to relinquish the lavish lifestyle and comforts into which he was born and accustomed.
I congratulate you, my dear friend, on the law of your state for suspending the importation of slaves, …this abomination must have an end, and there is a superior bench reserved in heaven for those who hasten it.
–Thomas Jefferson to Edward Rutledge, 14 July 1787
Through my painting, entitled Monticello, Independence Day, not only do I hope to convey the aesthetic beauty of Monticello, but also the dichotomy that existed between the lives of the privileged and that of their servants. I subtitled the painting Independence Day because Thomas Jefferson died on July 4rth, 1826, fifty years to the day after the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and also because the Hemings slaves were freed upon Jefferson’s death according to his will. I portrayed Sally Hemings as a slave tending to the flower gardens while Jefferson’s grandchildren are playing various games of the colonial period. The three girls on the left are engaged in the game of “Graces”, which was played in order to make girls more refined and gracious. Each girl would hold two sticks and fling the wooden ring to each other and try and catch it with their sticks. Another popular game among all children was called “Rolling the Hoop” where the children rolled a large wooden ring with a wooden stick with the objective being to get the ring across the finish line. Jefferson encouraged his grandchildren to play these games in order to promote good health, “if the body be feeble, the mind will not be strong”, and also to grow academically by reading books and writing every day.
“All my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello.”
–Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson died at Monticello on July 4th 1826, the exact same day as his good friend and fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams. Although he had not known that Jefferson had passed just a few hours earlier that very day, Adams whispered "Thomas Jefferson survives" just before he died. I encourage you to visit Monticello if you have not already done so. It is a sparkling jewel nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is so very rich with our nation’s early history. If you can’t make it in person, please visit their website at www.monticello.com where you will find so much more of its history.
I am offering this as a signed and numbered limited edition giclee print on fine art paper.
My Brother, Ed, hand delivered Once in a Blue Moon and Big Ben Godsend to Giovanni at his "Steelers bar" in Rome. If you visit Italy it is a must visit. Ed said to Gio "I guess you've adopted Pittsburgh as your team," to which Gio responded "I think Pittsburgh has adopted me!"
Click on the link below to see Gio's Steelers Bar in the heart of Rome...amazing www.romanightlife.com/labotticella
Thanks for viewing and God Bless,
Fred Carrow
Phone 814-676-5470
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