Bernini’s First Italian Fountains

Bernini’s First Italian Fountains Bernini's earliest fountain, named Barcaccia, is a masterful work of art found at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. Roman residents and site seers who enjoy verbal exchanges as well as being the company of others still go to this spot. One of the city’s most fashionable gathering spots are the streets surrounding Bernini's fountain, which would certainly have brought a smile to the great Bernini. In about 1630, the great artist designed the first water fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. Illustrated in the fountain's design is a large ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. Period writings dating back to the 16th century show that the fountain was built as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a prolonged time period, in 1665 Bernini voyaged to France.

Classic Greece: The Origins of Garden Statue Design

Classic Greece: The Origins of Garden Statue Design Most sculptors were remunerated by the temples to adorn the elaborate pillars and archways with renderings of the gods until the period came to a close and countless Greeks began to think of their religion as superstitious rather than sacred, when it became more common for sculptors to represent everyday people as well. Sometimes, a representation of affluent families' ancestors would be commissioned to be located inside huge familial tombs, and portraiture, which would be duplicated by the Romans upon their conquest of Greek civilization, also became customary. A time of aesthetic development, the use of sculpture and other art forms morphed through the Greek Classical period, so it is inexact to suggest that the arts served only one function. Greek sculpture was a cutting-edge part of antiquity, whether the cause was faith based fervor or visual satisfaction, and its modern excellence may be what endears it to us today.