Greek Revival Style
The Greek Revival, or Grecian, style (at its height from 1820 to 1840) parallels a period of geographic expansion and growing national identity in America. Part fashion, part conscious aesthetic, the Greek Revival is defined by its inventive use of ancient Greek forms. Publications such as Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens drove a fashion for the Grecian style first in Europe and then in America. But in America, it was more than fashion, it was political. As a young country emerging from the shadow of our British colonial past, we sought new paradigms. Viewing ourselves as inheritors of the Greek democratic tradition, we saw ourselves as the new Athens.
