Original Water Supply Solutions in Rome
Original Water Supply Solutions in Rome
Rome’s 1st elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; before that, citizens living at higher elevations had to rely on local streams for their water. When aqueducts or springs weren’t available, people dwelling at greater elevations turned to water drawn from underground or rainwater, which was made available by wells and cisterns. Starting in the sixteenth century, a unique program was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean sectors to provide water to Pincian Hill. Throughout the time of its initial building and construction, pozzi (or manholes) were positioned at set intervals along the aqueduct’s channel. Whilst these manholes were manufactured to make it less difficult to manage the aqueduct, it was also feasible to use containers to extract water from the channel, which was done by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he obtained the property in 1543 to his passing in 1552. Though the cardinal also had a cistern to accumulate rainwater, it didn’t produce sufficient water. Thankfully, the aqueduct sat directly below his property, and he had a shaft established to give him access.
Where did Large Garden Fountains Begin?
Where did Large Garden Fountains Begin?
The incredible architecture of a fountain allows it to provide clean water or shoot water high into air for dramatic effect and it can also serve as an excellent design feature to complete your home. 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. Used until the 19th century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their origin of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to decorate living areas and celebrate the artist. The main materials used by the Romans to build their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to re-create the gardens of paradise. To demonstrate his dominance over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries created baroque decorative fountains to glorify the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered 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 decorative. Amazing water effects and recycled water were made possible by switching the force of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern-day fountains function mostly as decoration for public spaces, to honor individuals or events, and compliment entertainment and recreational activities.
Architectural Sculpture in Ancient Greece
Architectural Sculpture in Ancient Greece Most sculptors were paid by the temples to adorn the intricate columns and archways with renderings of the gods up until the time period came to a close and countless Greeks began to think of their religion as superstitious rather than sacred, when it became more common for sculptors to portray ordinary men and women as well.
Sometimes, a interpretation of wealthy families' forefathers would be commissioned to be located inside of huge familial tombs, and portraiture, which would be replicated by the Romans upon their conquest of Greek civilization, also became commonplace. All through the many years of The Greek Classical period, a time of artistic progress, the use of sculpture and other art forms transformed, so it is inaccurate to say that the arts served merely one function. Greek sculpture was actually a modern component of antiquity, whether the reason was faith based fervor or aesthetic fulfillment, and its contemporary quality might be what endears it to us now.
The History of Garden Water Fountains
The History of Garden Water Fountains
Pope Nicholas V, himself a well educated man, governed the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of ancient classical Greek texts into Latin. In order to make Rome worthy of being the capital of the Christian world, the Pope resolved to enhance the beauty of the city. Reconstruction of the Acqua Vergine, a desolate Roman aqueduct which had transported fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, began in 1453 at the behest of the Pope. Building a mostra, an imposing celebratory fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the arrival point of an aqueduct, was a custom revived by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was commissioned by the Pope to construct a wall fountain 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 rebuilt.