Ancient Outdoor Water Feature Designers
Ancient Outdoor Water Feature Designers Fountain designers were multi-talented people from the 16th to the late 18th century, often working as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and cultivated scholars all in one. During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci exemplified the artist as a imaginative wizard, inventor and scientific virtuoso. The forces of nature inspired him to explore the properties and motion of water, and due to his curiosity, he carefully captured his observations in his now renowned notebooks. Ingenious water exhibits full of symbolic meaning and all-natural wonder transformed private villa settings when early Italian water fountain creators coupled imagination with hydraulic and landscaping skill. The humanist Pirro Ligorio provided the vision behind the wonders in Tivoli and was recognized for his abilities in archeology, architecture and garden concepts. Other water feature developers, masterminding the incredible water marbles, water features and water humor for the countless mansions in the vicinity of Florence, were well-versed in humanist topics and time-honored scientific texts.Where did Landscape Fountains Originate from?
Where did Landscape Fountains Originate from? A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to provide drinkable water, as well as for decorative purposes.
From the onset, outdoor fountains were soley meant to serve as functional elements. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, via aqueducts or springs nearby. Up until the 19th century, fountains had to be higher and closer to a water supply, such as aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to benefit from gravity which fed the fountains. Designers thought of fountains as wonderful additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to supply clean water and celebrate the designer responsible for creating it. The main materials used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. Throughout the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners included fountains to create smaller variations of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. To mark the entryway of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the building of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts entered the city of Rome
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. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity helped fountains to provide recycled water into living spaces as well as create special water effects.
Modern fountains are used to adorn community spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.
Bernini's Early Masterpieces
Bernini's Early Masterpieces The Barcaccia, a stunning water fountain built at the base of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna, was Bernini's earliest fountain. Roman residents and site seers who appreciate verbal exchanges as well as being the company of others still flood this spot.
The streets surrounding his fountain have come to be one of the city’s most fashionable gathering places, something which would certainly have pleased Bernini himself. In about 1630, the great master designed the very first water fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. The fountain’s central theme is based on a massive ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. Period writings dating back to the 16th century show that the fountain was constructed as a monument to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's only prolonged trip outside of Italy.