Statuary As a Staple of Vintage Art in Ancient Greece

Early Crete & The Minoans: Fountains
Early Crete & The Minoans: Fountains
Contemporary Garden Decor: Fountains and their Beginnings
Contemporary Garden Decor: Fountains and their Beginnings A fountain, an incredible piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also launch water high into the air for an extraordinary effect.
Pure practicality was the original purpose of fountains. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to provide them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Until the late 19th, century most water fountains operated using gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a source of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Fountains were an excellent source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and celebrate the designer. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often utilized by Romans to beautify their fountains. To illustrate the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages introduced fountains to their designs. King Louis XIV of France wanted to demonstrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. To mark the entrance of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the construction of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts arrived in the city of Rome
Since indoor plumbing became the standard of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely decorative. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity allowed fountains to provide recycled water into living spaces as well as create unique water effects.
Nowadays, fountains decorate public areas and are used to recognize individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.