BULFINCH, Charles

American architect, often noted as the first native-born professional architect in the U.S. He gained fame chiefly as a designer of government buildings, including the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

After studying at Harvard University (1778-81), Bulfinch toured Europe (1785-87) and, on the advice of Thomas Jefferson, whom he met in Paris, visited many of the major architectural works of France and Italy. In London he became acquainted with the NeoclassicismGLOSSARYA style in European art and architecture from the mid 18th century until the end of the 19th century. Based as it was on the use of ancient Greek and Roman models and motifs, its development was greatly influenced by the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and by the theories of the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768). Intellectually and politically it was closely linked to the Enlightenment's rejection of the aristocratic frivolity of Rococo, the style of the Ancien Régime. Among Neoclassicism's leading figures were the French painter Jacques-Louis David (1744-1825), the German painter Anton Raffael Mengs (1728-1729), and the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822). of the Scottish-born architect Robert Adam, and he was largely responsible for introducing the Adam style into the United States. Most of his works incorporate classicalGLOSSARYRelating to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome (classical Antiquity). The classical world played a profoundly important role in the Renaissance, with Italian scholars, writers, and artists seeing their own period as the rebirth (the "renaissance") of classical values after the Middle Ages. The classical world was considered the golden age for the arts, literature, philosophy, and politics. Concepts of the classical, however, changed greatly from one period to the next. Roman literature provided the starting point in the 14th century, scholars patiently finding, editing and translating a wide range of texts. In the 15th century Greek literature, philosophy and art - together with the close study of the remains of Roman buildings and sculptures-expanded the concept of the classical and ensured it remained a vital source of ideas and inspiration. orders and show a mastery of proportionGLOSSARYin painting, sculpture and architecture, the ratio between the respective parts and the whole work. The following are important: 1. the Canon of Proportion, a mathematical formula establishing ideal proportions of the various parts of the human body. The unit of measurement is usually the relationship of the head to the torso (1:7 or 1:10); 2. the golden section, a line C divided into a small section A and a larger section B, so that A:B are in the same relationship as B:C; 3. the quadrature, which uses the square as a unit of measurement; 4. triangulation, which uses an equilateral triangle in order to determine important points in the construction; and 5. harmonic proportions, an analogy with the way sounds are produced on stringed instruments, for example an octave = 1:2 (the difference in pitch between two strings, one half the length of the other), a fifth = 2:3, a fourth = 3:4..

Among Bulfinch's works are the Massachusetts State House, Boston (designed 1787-88; built 1795-98; still extant but greatly altered); the Connecticut State House, Hartford (1792-96; now the city hall); and the Maine Capitol, Augusta (1828-31). Bulfinch was the fourth in the succession of architects of the United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. Serving in this capacity from 1817 to 1830, Bulfinch used the plans of his immediate predecessor, Benjamin Latrobe, for the wings, but he prepared a new design for the rotunda.

In 1787 Bulfinch helped to promote the first circumnavigation of the Earth by an American ship (the Columbia, commanded by Robert Gray). As a member (1791-95, 1799-1817) of the Boston board of selectmen, he directed the improvement of the local street system and of Boston Common and its surroundings.