The Water Fountains

The Water Fountains Towns and villages relied on working water fountains to conduct water for preparing food, washing, and cleaning from local sources like lakes, channels, or creeks. A supply of water higher in elevation than the fountain was needed to pressurize the movement and send water spraying from the fountain's nozzle, a system without equal until the later part of the 19th century. Water Fountains 06162159801676982.jpg

The beauty and wonder of fountains make them perfect for historic monuments. If you saw the first fountains, you would not recognize them as fountains. Basic stone basins created from nearby stone were the original fountains, used for religious functions and drinking water. Stone basins are thought to have been 1st made use of around 2000 BC. The first civilizations that utilized fountains depended on gravity to force water through spigots. Positioned near reservoirs or springs, the functional public water fountains furnished the local population with fresh drinking water. The Romans began constructing elaborate fountains in 6 BC, most of which were metallic or natural stone masks of creatures and mythological representations. A well-engineered system of reservoirs and aqueducts kept Rome's public water fountains supplied with fresh water.

Contemporary Sculpture in Ancient Greece

Contemporary Sculpture in Ancient Greece Traditionally, most sculptors were compensated by the temples to adorn the involved columns and archways with renderings of the gods, however as the era came to a close it grew to be more common for sculptors to present regular people as well because many Greeks had begun to think of their institution as superstitious rather than sacred. Rich individuals would often times commission a rendering of their ancestors for their large familial tombs; portraiture also became frequent and would be appropriated by the Romans upon their acquisition of Greek society. A time of aesthetic enhancement, the use of sculpture and other art forms morphed through the Greek Classical period, so it is not entirely accurate to assume that the arts provided only one function. It may be the advanced quality of Greek sculpture that grabs our awareness today; it was on a leading-edge practice of the ancient world whether it was created for religious reasons or aesthetic pleasure.

Bernini: The Master of Italy's Greatest Fountains

Bernini: The Master of Italy's Greatest Fountains The Barcaccia, a beautiful fountain built at the base of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna, was Bernini's earliest water fountain. Roman locals and site seers who appreciate conversation as well as being the company of others still flood this spot. Today, the city streets around Bernini's water fountain are a trendy area where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. Dating back to around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII mandated what was to be the very first water fountain of the master's career. Illustrated in the fountain's design is a great vessel 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 magnificent fountain. In 1665 Bernini journeyed to France, in what was to be his only lengthy absence from Italy.

Aqueducts: The Answer to Rome's Water Troubles

Aqueducts: The Answer to Rome's Water Troubles With the development of the 1st elevated aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, people who lived on the city’s foothills no longer had to rely solely on naturally-occurring spring water for their needs. During this time period, there were only two other innovations capable of delivering water to elevated areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which gathered rainwater. Aqueducts: Answer Rome's Water Troubles 92953076.jpg

Aqueducts: Answer Rome's Water Troubles 92953076.jpg

In the very early 16th century, the city began to utilize the water that flowed below the ground through Acqua Vergine to furnish water to Pincian Hill. Throughout the time of its original construction, pozzi (or manholes) were added at set intervals along the aqueduct’s channel. During the roughly nine years he had the property, from 1543 to 1552, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi made use of these manholes to take water from the channel in containers, though they were originally built for the function of maintaining and maintenance the aqueduct. He didn’t get an adequate amount water from the cistern that he had manufactured on his residential property to gather rainwater. That is when he made a decision to create an access point to the aqueduct that ran beneath his residential property.