Contemporary Garden Decoration: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots The amazing 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. The main purpose of a fountain was originally strictly practical. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with potable water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Up until the 19th century, fountains had to be higher and closer to a water source, such as aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to take advantage of gravity which fed the fountains. Designers thought of fountains as amazing additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to provide clean water and celebrate the artist responsible for creating it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times utilized by Romans to beautify their fountains. 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 demonstrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to exalt their positions by including decorative baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
The end of the 19th century saw the rise in usage of indoor plumbing to provide drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to purely decorative elements. The introduction of unique water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.
The Source of Modern Day Outdoor Garden Fountains
The Source of Modern Day Outdoor Garden Fountains Hundreds of ancient Greek documents were translated into Latin under the authority of the scholarly Pope Nicholas V, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455. Embellishing Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the heart of his ambitions. Starting in 1453, the ruined ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Aqua Vergine which had brought fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, underwent repair at the bidding of the Pope. Building a mostra, an imposing celebratory fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a custom revived by Nicholas V.
The present-day site of the Trevi Fountain was formerly occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and constructed by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. Changes and extensions, included in the restored aqueduct, eventually supplied the Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.