"With an introductory overview providing the context and issues involved in three distinct periods of French influence, Paris on the Potomac presents case studies on David d'Angers's busts of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, and on the influence of French architecture on Thomas Jefferson's vision of the U.S. Capitol. It offers a richly detailed examination of French-inspired interior decoration in the homes of Washington's elite in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and a consideration of the influence of Paris on city planning in Washington, D.C., including the efforts of the McMillan Commission and the later development of the Federal Triangle complex." "Paris on the Potomac, the latest addition to the series Perspectives on the Art and Architectural History of the United States Capitol, originated in a conference held by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society in 2002 at the French Embassy's Maison Francaise."--Jacket.