Modern Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Beginnings
Modern Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Beginnings 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 an extraordinary effect. From the beginning, outdoor fountains were simply there to serve as functional elements. Inhabitants of cities, townships and small towns utilized them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash up, which meant that fountains needed to be linked to nearby aqueduct or spring. Until the late nineteenth, century most water fountains functioned using gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a source of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Acting as an element of decoration and celebration, fountains also provided clean, fresh drinking water. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often utilized by Romans to decorate their fountains. To replicate the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages introduced fountains to their designs. The fountains found in the Gardens of Versailles were meant to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to extol their positions by adding beautiful baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Since indoor plumbing became the standard of the day for fresh, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely ornamental. Gravity was substituted by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.
These days, fountains adorn public areas and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
Attributes of Outdoor Statuary in Archaic Greece
Attributes of Outdoor Statuary in Archaic Greece The first freestanding sculpture was developed by the Archaic Greeks, a notable accomplishment since until then the only carvings in existence were reliefs cut into walls and columns. Younger, appealing male or female (kore) Greeks were the subject matter of most of the sculptures, or kouros figures. Considered by Greeks to represent splendour, the kouroi were structured into firm, forward facing positions with one foot outstretched, and the male statues were usually nude, well-developed, and athletic. Life-sized versions of the kouroi appeared beginning in 650 BC.
The Archaic period was turbulent for the Greeks as they evolved into more sophisticated forms of federal government and art, and acquired more information about the peoples and societies outside of Greece. Equivalent to other times of historical unrest, conflicts were commonplace, and there were battles between city-states like The Arcadian wars, the Spartan invasion of Samos.
Bernini’s Very First Italian Water Fountains
Bernini’s Very First Italian Water Fountains One can see Bernini's earliest masterpiece, the Barcaccia fountain, at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, you will see Roman locals and vacation goers filling this area to revel in chit chatter and being among other people. Bernini would undoubtedly have been happy to know that people still flock to what has become one the city's most fashionable areas, that surrounding his amazing water fountain.
The master's very first fountain of his professional life was built at around 1630 at the behest of Pope Urbano VIII. People can now see the fountain as an illustration of a commanding ship gradually sinking into the Mediterranean. The great 16th century flooding of the Tevere, which left the entire region inundated with water, was memorialized by the fountain according to writings from the time. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's only extended voyage outside of Italy.