Bernini’s Early Italian Water Fountains

Bernini’s Early Italian Water Fountains Bernini’s Early Italian Water Fountains 86103284205376.jpg

The Barcaccia, Bernini's very first water fountain, is a magnificent chef d'oeuvre built at the foot 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. One of the city’s most fashionable meeting places are the streets surrounding Bernini's fountain, which would undoubtedly have brought a smile to the great Bernini. In around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII helped Bernini launch his professional life with the construction of his first fountain. A large boat slowly sinking into the Mediterranean is the fountain's central theme. The great 16th century flood of the Tevere, which left the entire region inundated with water, was memorialized by the fountain according to documents from the period. In what became his only prolonged absence from Italy, Bernini {journeyed | traveled] to France in 1665.

The Public Garden Fountains

The Public Garden Fountains As initially conceived, fountains were designed to be functional, guiding water from streams or reservoirs to the citizens of towns and settlements, where the water could be utilized for cooking, cleaning, and drinking. Public Garden Fountains 73697151778317200952.jpg

Public Garden Fountains 73697151778317200952.jpg

In the years before electrical power, the spray of fountains was driven by gravity exclusively, often using an aqueduct or water source located far away in the surrounding mountains. Fountains all through history have been created as monuments, impressing hometown citizens and tourists alike. Crude in design, the very first water fountains did not appear much like present fountains. Basic stone basins sculpted from local stone were the very first fountains, used for religious functions and drinking water. Natural stone basins as fountains have been discovered from 2000 BC. The spray of water appearing from small spouts was pushed by gravity, the lone power source builders had in those days. These original water fountains were built to be functional, usually situated along reservoirs, streams and rivers to provide drinking water. Fountains with flowery decoration began to show up in Rome in approx. 6 BC, normally gods and wildlife, made with natural stone or copper-base alloy. Water for the communal fountains of Rome was delivered to the city via a complicated system of water aqueducts.