Ancient Water Fountain Designers

Ancient Water Fountain Designers Often working as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and discerning scholars, all in one, fountain creators were multi-talented individuals from the 16th to the late 18th century.

Exemplifying the Renaissance skilled artist as a inspiring master, Leonardo da Vinci toiled as an inventor and scientific guru. He systematically reported his findings in his now celebrated notebooks about his studies into the forces of nature and the properties and movement of water. Transforming private villa settings into imaginative water exhibits full with symbolic meaning and natural wonder, early Italian water feature creators paired imagination with hydraulic and gardening expertise. Known for his incredible skill in archeology, design and garden design, Pirro Ligorio, the humanist, offered the vision behind the magnificence in Tivoli. Well versed in humanistic subject areas as well as ancient technical texts, other water fountain designers were masterminding the excellent water marbles, water attributes and water pranks for the numerous properties near Florence.

Bernini: The Master of Italy's Most Impressive Fountains

Bernini: The Master of Italy's Most Impressive Fountains One can find Bernini's earliest masterpiece, the Barcaccia water fountain, at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, this area is filled with Roman locals and travelers alike who enjoy conversation and each other's company. Today, the city streets surrounding Bernini's fountain are a trendy area where people go to gather, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. In around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII helped Bernini launch his professional life with the construction of his very first fountain. The fountain’s central motif is based on an enormous boat slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. Period writings dating back to the 16th century indicate that the fountain was constructed as a monument to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a long-lasting period of time, in 1665 Bernini voyaged to France.