The Circulation of Water Fountain Engineering Knowledge in Europe

The Circulation of Water Fountain Engineering Knowledge in Europe Instrumental to the development of scientific technology were the printed letters and illustrated publications of the day. They were also the primary means of transferring practical hydraulic facts and water fountain design suggestions throughout Europe. A globally renowned innovator in hydraulics in the later part of the 1500's was a French fountain engineer, whose name has been lost to history. His expertise in developing landscapes and grottoes with integrated and brilliant water fountains began in Italy and with mandates in Brussels, London and Germany. He penned a publication titled “The Principles of Moving Forces” toward the conclusion of his life while in France that turned into the essential tome on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. The book modified key hydraulic discoveries since classical antiquity as well as describing modern hydraulic technologies. As a mechanical way to move water, Archimedes made the water screw, chief among vital hydraulic innovations. Sunlight heating up water in two vessels concealed in a room adjacent to an ornamental water feature was presented in one illustration. The end result: the water feature is stimulated by the hot liquid expanding and rising up the pipelines. Models for pumps, water wheels, water attributes and outdoor ponds are also included in the guide.

Back Story of Outdoor Fountains

Back Story of Outdoor Fountains The translation of hundreds of classical Greek texts into Latin was commissioned by the learned Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. He undertook the beautification of Rome to turn it into the worthy capital of the Christian world. Restoration of the Acqua Vergine, a ruined Roman aqueduct which had carried fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, began in 1453 at the behest of the Pope. The ancient Roman tradition of building an imposing commemorative fountain at the location where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was resurrected by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was commissioned by the Pope to build a wall fountain where we now find the Trevi Fountain. Adjustments and extensions, included in the repaired aqueduct, eventually provided the Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.