Back Story of Outdoor Fountains

Back Story of Outdoor Fountains The translation of hundreds of ancient Greek texts into Latin was commissioned by the scholarly Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. He undertook the beautification of Rome to make it into the model capital of the Christian world. At the behest of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a ruined aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was renovated starting in 1453. Building a mostra, a grandiose celebratory fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a custom revived by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was directed by the Pope to build a wall fountain where we now see the Trevi Fountain. The aqueduct he had reconditioned included modifications and extensions which eventually enabled it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the renowned baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.

Bernini’s First Italian Fountains

Bernini’s First Italian Fountains Bernini's earliest water fountain, named Barcaccia, is a breath taking work of art found at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, this area is filled with Roman locals and tourists alike who enjoy conversation and each other's company. 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. The master's very first water 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 Sea. The great flooding of the Tevere that blanketed the whole region with water in the 16th was memorialized by this momentous fountain as recorded by documents dating back to this period. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a lengthy period of time, in 1665 Bernini voyaged to France.