The Magificent First Wonders by Bernini
The Magificent First Wonders by Bernini
One can see Bernini's earliest masterpiece, the Barcaccia fountain, at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. This spot is still filled with Roman locals and visitors who like to exchanging gossip or going over the day's news. Today, the city streets around Bernini's water fountain are a trendy place where people go to gather, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. In about 1630, the great master built the first water fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. People can now see the fountain as a depiction of a great ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. According to 16th century texts, a great flood of the Tevere covered the entire area in water, an event which was commemorated by the tremendous fountain. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a lengthy time period, in 1665 Bernini voyaged to France.
Where did Fountains Begin?
Where did Fountains Begin? A fountain, an incredible piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also propel water high into the air for a noteworthy effect.
Pure practicality was the original role of fountains. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to provide them with potable water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. 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 designer. Bronze or stone masks of animals and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller models of the gardens of paradise. Fountains played a considerable role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exercise his power over nature. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains constructed to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
The end of the 19th century saw the increase in usage of indoor plumbing to provide drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to strictly decorative elements. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to permit fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.
Fountain Designers Through History
Fountain Designers Through History Water feature designers were multi-talented people from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century, often serving as architects, sculptors, artisans, engineers and highly educated scholars all in one. Exemplifying the Renaissance artist as a imaginative legend, Leonardo da Vinci performed as an inventor and scientific specialist. With his astounding fascination regarding the forces of nature, he researched the attributes and mobility of water and also carefully recorded his examinations in his now celebrated notebooks. Early Italian water fountain engineers altered private villa settings into ingenious water displays full with symbolic meaning and natural elegance by combining imagination with hydraulic and gardening expertise. The humanist Pirro Ligorio, renowned for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden design, provided the vision behind the splendors in Tivoli. Well versed in humanistic subjects as well as classic technical texts, other water feature creators were masterminding the fascinating water marbles, water features and water pranks for the countless mansions around Florence.