Where did Garden Water Fountains Begin?
Where did Garden Water Fountains Begin? The amazing or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, as well as providing drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.Originally, fountains only served a functional purpose. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash.
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 gravity. Fountains were not only utilized as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the designer who created it. Roman fountains often depicted images of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. Muslims and Moorish landscaping designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. To show 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 exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the location where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby limiting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. The creation of special water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Nowadays, fountains decorate public areas and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
Bernini: The Genius Behind Italy's Most Impressive Water Fountains
Bernini: The Genius Behind Italy's Most Impressive Water Fountains The Barcaccia, Bernini's very first water fountain, is a striking chef d'oeuvre built at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna.
This spot continues to be filled with Roman locals and tourists who like to exchanging gossip or going over the day's news. One of the city’s most fashionable meeting spots are the streets surrounding Bernini's fountain, which would undoubtedly have brought a smile to the great Bernini. Dating back to around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII mandated what was to be the earliest fountain of the artist's career. The fountain’s central theme is based on a massive vessel slowly sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. Period writings dating back to the 16th century indicate that the fountain was built as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a lengthy period of time, in 1665 Bernini traveled to France.