The Godfather Of Rome's Outdoor Fountains
The Godfather Of Rome's Outdoor Fountains There are any number of celebrated Roman water features in its city center. One of the finest sculptors and artists of the 17th century, almost all of them were planned, conceptualized and built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Also a city builder, he had capabilities as a fountain developer, and traces of his life's work are obvious throughout the roads of Rome. Eventually transferring to Rome to completely express their art, chiefly in the form of community water features, Bernini’s father, a famed Florentine sculptor, mentored his young son. The juvenile Bernini was an great worker and won compliments and backing of important painters as well as popes. Initially he was celebrated for his sculpting skills.
Most famously in the Vatican, he used a base of knowledge in classic Greek architecture and melded it seamlessly with Roman marble. Although many artists had an impact on his work, Michelangelo had the most profound effect.
Modern Garden Decoration: Large Outdoor Water Fountains and their Roots
Modern Garden Decoration: Large Outdoor Water Fountains and their Roots
A fountain, an amazing piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also launch water high into the air for a noteworthy effect. Pure functionality was the original purpose of fountains. 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 to the late nineteenth century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water flow downwards or shoot high into the air. Acting as an element of adornment and celebration, fountains also generated clean, fresh drinking water. The main components used by the Romans to build their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly illustrating animals or heroes. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners included fountains to create mini variations of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains built to mark the place of entry of Roman aqueducts.
The end of the nineteenth 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 two things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
These days, fountains adorn public spaces and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
Did You Know How Technical Designs of Fountains Became Known?
Did You Know How Technical Designs of Fountains Became Known?
The circulated papers and illustrated pamphlets of the day contributed to the evolution of scientific innovation, and were the chief methods of spreading practical hydraulic information and fountain suggestions throughout Europe. An un-named French water feature designer was an internationally celebrated hydraulic innovator in the late 1500's. His experience in creating landscapes and grottoes with built-in and imaginative water fountains began in Italy and with mandates in Brussels, London and Germany. The text, “The Principles of Moving Forces,” penned near the end of his lifetime in France, turned out to be the fundamental writing on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. The publication updated key hydraulic advancements since classical antiquity as well as detailing modern hydraulic technologies. As a mechanical method to shift water, Archimedes devised the water screw, chief among key hydraulic breakthroughs. An ornamental water feature with sunlight heating up the liquid in two vessels hidden in an neighboring room was shown in one illustration. The hot water expands and subsequently rises and shuts the water lines consequently activating the water feature. Designs for pumps, water wheels, water features and garden ponds are also mentioned in the book.