The Magificent First Wonders by Bernini
The Magificent First Wonders by Bernini
The Barcaccia, Bernini's first fountain, is a striking chef d'oeuvre built at the base of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. This area continues to be filled with Roman locals and tourists who like to exchanging gossip or going over the day's news. Today, the city streets around Bernini's water fountain are a trendy place where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. The master's first water fountain of his career was built at around 1630 at the request of Pope Urbano VIII. The fountain’s central theme is based on a massive vessel slowly sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. The great 16th century flooding of the Tevere, which left the entire region inundated with water, was memorialized by the fountain according to writings from the time. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's one-and-only extended voyage outside of Italy.
Water Transport Strategies in Early Rome
Water Transport Strategies in Early Rome
Previous to 273, when the first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was established in Roma, inhabitants who lived on hills had to journey even further down to gather their water from natural sources. Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the only technologies around at the time to supply water to locations of high elevation. From the beginning of the sixteenth century, water was routed to Pincian Hill via the subterranean channel of Acqua Vergine. All through the length of the aqueduct’s passage were pozzi, or manholes, that gave access. Whilst these manholes were manufactured to make it simpler and easier to protect the aqueduct, it was also possible to use containers to remove water from the channel, which was practiced by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he obtained the property in 1543 to his passing in 1552. The cistern he had made to obtain rainwater wasn’t adequate to meet his water demands. To give himself with a much more useful system to obtain water, he had one of the manholes exposed, providing him access to the aqueduct below his property.
Where did Large Outdoor Fountains Originate from?
Where did Large Outdoor Fountains Originate from? The dramatic or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to supplying drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.From the onset, outdoor fountains were simply meant to serve as functional elements. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Used until the nineteenth century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their origin of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from gravity. Serving as an element of adornment and celebration, fountains also generated clean, fresh drinking water. The main components used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly illustrating animals or heroes. To depict the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages introduced fountains to their designs.
King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to extol their positions by including beautiful baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Urban fountains created at the end of the 19th century served only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. The introduction of special water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.
"Old School" Water Fountain Designers
"Old School" Water Fountain Designers Commonly serving as architects, sculptors, designers, engineers and cultivated scholars, all in one, fountain creators were multi-talented people from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century. Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance artist, was celebrated as an creative intellect, inventor and scientific virtuoso. He systematically documented his findings in his now celebrated notebooks about his research into the forces of nature and the qualities and movement of water. Early Italian water feature builders converted private villa configurations into ingenious water displays full of symbolic meaning and natural charm by combining creativity with hydraulic and horticultural talent. The brilliance in Tivoli were developed by the humanist Pirro Ligorio, who was widely known for his skill in archeology, architecture and garden design. Masterminding the excellent water marbles, water attributes and water antics for the various properties near Florence, other water fountain designers were well versed in humanist issues and time-honored scientific texts.