{"id":149663,"date":"2020-12-24T11:00:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T16:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=149663"},"modified":"2020-12-11T16:53:29","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T21:53:29","slug":"americas-first-connoisseur-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/24\/americas-first-connoisseur-2\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s First Connoisseur"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>We\u2019re away until January 4, but we\u2019re reposting some of our favorite pieces from 2020. Enjoy your holiday!<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_145229\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jameshemmingsfilm.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145229\" class=\"size-full wp-image-145229\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jameshemmingsfilm.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jameshemmingsfilm.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jameshemmingsfilm-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/jameshemmingsfilm-768x535.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-145229\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seth Gilliam as James Hemings in <em>Jefferson in Paris<\/em> (1995)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Among his many claims to distinction, Thomas Jefferson can be regarded as America\u2019s first connoisseur. The term and the concept emerged among the philosophes of eighteenth-century Paris, where Jefferson lived between 1784 and 1789. As minister to France he gorged on French culture. In five years, he bought more than sixty oil paintings, and many more objets d\u2019art. He attended countless operas, plays, recitals, and masquerade balls. He researched the latest discoveries in botany, zoology and horticulture, and read inveterately\u2014poetry, history, philosophy. In every inch of Paris he found something to stir his senses and cultivate his expertise. \u201cWere I to proceed to tell you how much I enjoy their architecture, sculpture, painting, music,\u201d he wrote a friend back in America, \u201cI should want words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, he poured all these influences into Monticello, the plantation he inherited from his father, which Jefferson redesigned into a palace of his own refined tastes. More than in its domed ceilings, its gardens, or its galleries, it was in Monticello\u2019s dining room that Jefferson the connoisseur reigned. Here, he shared with his guests recipes, produce, and ideas that continue to have a sizable effect on how and what Americans eat.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/05\/21\/americas-first-connoisseur\/\">Read more &gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The elegant innovations of a new American cuisine were prepared by a man who was considered a slave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":695,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68282],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-2020"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>America\u2019s First Connoisseur by Edward White<\/title>\n<meta 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