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THE CAPITOL DOME 30 similar to the Halle aux blés for both technical and philosophi- cal reasons. Technically, the roof would drip—either through direct leakage or as a result of condensation. Philosophically, Latrobe thought that direct light within this solemn legislative chamber would be entirely wrong. Again, the strong-willed architect and the president faced off against each other, with Latrobe writing Jefferson: "So spangled a ceiling, giving an air of the highest gaiety, will I think destroy the solemnity that is appropriate to the object of the edifice." 10 e Paris grain market (fig. 6) was designed by Nicolas Le Camus de Mézières and was built on the site of the Hôtel de Soissons by 1767. Le Camus incorporated Catherine de Medici's Colonne de l'Horoscope in his open circular building. Jacques- Guillaume Legrand and Jacques Molinos designed the glazed roof which, completed by 1783, had captured Thomas Jefferson's romantic imagination (fig. 7). e grain market was so admired for its function, its circulation, and its light - ing that it quickly became regarded as one of the preeminent industrial buildings in Europe. In 1803 the Legrand-Molinos roof was destroyed by fire. An iron and glass roof replaced it in 1813. e site is now the Bourse de commerce. Latrobe wanted to light the Hall of the House of Representatives with a large cupola or lantern (lanthern) in the center of the roof. e lantern's vertical sashes would be far more resistant to leakage and breakage, and would deflect light indirectly into the room providing what he called "unity of light." Jefferson dismissed Latrobe's Lantern design, as he claimed there was no classical precedent for it. Jefferson was not seduced by Latrobe's arguments. is became their most difficult disagreement regarding the design and construction of the Capitol. Finally, a frustrated Jefferson simply told Latrobe to do what he (Latrobe) thought best, but made his own desire quite clear: I cannot express to you the regret I feel on the subject of renouncing the Halle au bless (sic) lights in the Capitol dome. at single circumstance was to constitute the dis - tinguishing merit of the room, & would solely have made it the handsomest room in the world, without a single exception. 11 In this standoff, it was Latrobe who blinked. He then pro- ceeded to build the glazed roof in the style of the Halle aux blés as the President had wished. As late as November 1806, when the logistics of ordering glass for the roof became a topic of discussion, Latrobe still tried to persuade Jefferson of the suitability of a lantern scheme by providing him a beautiful watercolor perspective drawing of the Capitol's exterior from the northeast, showing how attractive and yet minimal the lanterns would appear on both the North and South Wings (fig. 8). Latrobe had one more trick, however. As he designed the domed roof to cover the eighty-five-foot-long hippodrome roofopening, he designed into the center of the framing plan a ring of timbers strong enough to hold a large lantern (just in case the roof leaked). e entire glazed dome contained one Fig. 6. Jean-Baptiste Maréchal, [Extérieur de la Halle au blés], 1786. BIBL IOT HÈQUE NAT IONAL E DE FR ANCE, DÉPART EMEN T E S TAMPE S E T PHOTO GR APHIE