Where did Fountains Come From?
Where did Fountains Come From? A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to supply drinkable water, as well as for decorative purposes. Originally, fountains only served a functional purpose. Water fountains were connected to a spring or aqueduct to supply potable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Used until the 19th 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 the power of gravity. Fountains were an excellent source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and memorialize the artist. Roman fountains often depicted images of animals or heroes made of metal or stone masks. To illustrate the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages added fountains to their designs. King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries manufactured baroque decorative fountains to exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the location where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
The end of the 19th century saw the rise in usage of indoor plumbing to supply drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to strictly decorative elements. Gravity was substituted by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for amazing water displays.
Modern fountains are used to adorn public spaces, honor individuals or events, and enhance recreational and entertainment events.
Bernini's Early Showpieces
Bernini's Early Showpieces One can find Bernini's earliest masterpiece, the Barcaccia fountain, at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. Roman locals and site seers who appreciate verbal exchanges as well as being the company of others still go to this spot. Today, the city streets surrounding Bernini's water fountain are a trendy area where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. In around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII helped Bernini launch his professional life with the construction of his very first water fountain. The fountain’s central motif is based on an enormous vessel slowly sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. Period writings dating back to the 16th century indicate that the fountain was built as a monument to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's one-and-only prolonged journey outside of Italy.
How Mechanical Designs of Outdoor Spread
How Mechanical Designs of Outdoor Spread Throughout Europe, the chief means of dissiminating useful hydraulic understanding and fountain design ideas were the published papers and illustrated publications of the time, which added to the development of scientific innovation. An un-named French fountain developer was an internationally renowned hydraulic leader in the later part of the 1500's. With imperial commissions in Brussels, London and Germany, he started his work in Italy, building know-how in garden design and grottoes with built-in and clever water hydraulics. He wrote a book entitled “The Principles of Moving Forces” toward the conclusion of his lifetime while in France that turned into the basic book on hydraulic technology and engineering.
Updating key hydraulic breakthroughs of classical antiquity, the book also explains contemporary hydraulic technologies. Archimedes, the inventor of the water screw, had his work showcased and these included a mechanical means to move water. Sunlight warmed the water in two undetectable vessels adjoining to the beautiful water feature were displayed in an illustration. The end result: the fountain is stimulated by the heated water expanding and ascending up the pipes. The book furthermore includes garden ponds, water wheels, water feature concepts.
Back Story of Outdoor Water Fountains
Back Story of Outdoor Water Fountains Pope Nicholas V, himself a well educated man, reigned the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classical Greek texts into Latin. Beautifying Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the center of his objectives.
Beginning 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 reconstruction at the behest of the Pope. The historical Roman tradition of marking the entry point of an aqueduct with an magnificent celebratory fountain, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was directed by the Pope to construct a wall fountain where we now see the Trevi Fountain. The aqueduct he had reconditioned included modifications and extensions which eventually enabled it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.