The Public Water Fountains

The Public Water Fountains The water from springs and other sources was initially supplied to the occupants of nearby communities and cities by way of water fountains, whose design was mainly practical, not aesthetic. To make water flow through a fountain until the end of the 1800’s, and generate a jet of water, mandated the force of gravity and a water source such as a spring or reservoir, situated higher than the fountain. Commonly used as monuments and commemorative structures, water fountains have influenced people from all over the planet throughout the ages. If you saw the very first fountains, you probably would not recognize them as fountains. Crafted for drinking water and ceremonial purposes, the very first fountains were very simple carved stone basins. 2000 B.C. is when the oldest identified stone fountain basins were actually used. The first fountains used in ancient civilizations relied on gravity to control the flow of water through the fountain. Situated near reservoirs or springs, the functional public water fountains furnished the local citizens with fresh drinking water. Fountains with elaborate decoration began to appear in Rome in approx. 6 BC, normally gods and animals, made with stone or copper-base alloy. Water for the open fountains of Rome was brought to the city via a complicated system of water aqueducts.

Builders of the First Garden Fountains

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Builders of the First Garden Fountains Commonly serving as architects, sculptors, designers, engineers and discerning scholars, all in one, fountain designers were multi-faceted individuals from the 16th to the late 18th century. Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance artist, was celebrated as an ingenious intellect, inventor and scientific expert. The forces of nature inspired him to investigate the qualities and motion of water, and due to his curiosity, he methodically captured his experiences in his now renowned notebooks. Early Italian water feature engineers converted private villa settings into ingenious water showcases full of emblematic meaning and natural elegance by combining creativity with hydraulic and gardening expertise. Known for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden creations, Pirro Ligorio, the humanist, offered the vision behind the magnificence in Tivoli. For the assorted properties close to Florence, other water fountain engineers were well versed in humanistic themes and ancient scientific texts, masterminding the excellent water marbles, water features and water jokes.

Archaic Greek Art: Outdoor Statuary

Archaic Greek Art: Outdoor Statuary Archaic Greeks were known for developing the first freestanding statuary; up until then, most carvings were constructed out of walls and pillars as reliefs. For the most part the statues, or kouros figures, were of adolescent and desirable male or female (kore) Greeks. The kouroi, viewed by the Greeks to represent beauty, had one foot extended out of a rigid forward-facing posture and the male figurines were always unclothed, with a powerful, strong shape. Life-sized versions of the kouroi appeared beginning in 650 BC. The Archaic period was tumultuous for the Greeks as they evolved into more sophisticated forms of federal government and art, and acquired more data about the peoples and societies outside of Greece. But these disagreements did not prohibit the expansion of the Greek civilization. {

From Where Did Water Features Originate?

From Where Did Water Features Originate? Himself a learned man, Pope Nicholas V headed the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 till 1455 and was responsible for the translation of scores of age-old texts from their original Greek into Latin. He undertook the embellishment of Rome to make it into the worthy capital of the Christian world. Water Features Originate? 51245303244638.jpg

Water Features Originate? 51245303244638.jpg

At the bidding of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a ruined aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was reconditioned starting in 1453. Building a mostra, a grandiose commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a custom revived by Nicholas V. At the bidding of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti undertook the construction of a wall fountain in the spot where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain as well as the well-known baroque fountains found in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona were eventually supplied with water from the modified aqueduct he had reconstructed.