[Note #3] An Ornament to the Grounds?

The Brooks Museum was designed in the distinctive Second Empire style, noted for its Mansard roof and ornamented façade (e.g., the stone animal carvings). In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the style was considered fashionable and a statement of modernity. The architect’s plans and the location for the new building were reviewed and approved by the Board of Visitors.

UVa Professor William Fontaine described Brooks as "an ornament to the University grounds." The local newspaper, the Jeffersonian, said the Museum was both “imposing” and “striking.” Student organizations and faculty groups opted for the Brooks Museum steps for yearbook photos as often as they chose the Rotunda. But by the turn of the 20th century it was said, and it is still said, that Brooks ‘just doesn’t fit.’ The substance, or lack of substance, and the meaning of that phrase will be explored in the next Brooks Notes.

From Professor Hantman