Bernini's First Showpieces
Bernini's First Showpieces The Barcaccia, Bernini's very first water fountain, is a striking chef d'oeuvre built at the base of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, you will find Roman residents and vacation goers filling this area to revel in chit chatter and being among other people.
The streets surrounding his water fountain have come to be one of the city’s most trendy meeting places, something which would certainly have pleased Bernini himself. The master's first fountain of his career was built at around 1630 at the behest of Pope Urbano VIII. Illustrated in the fountain's design is a large ship gradually sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. The great flooding of the Tevere that covered the whole region with water in the 16th was memorialized by this momentous fountain as recorded by reports dating back to this time. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a lengthy time period, in 1665 Bernini voyaged to France.
Where did Fountains Begin?
Where did Fountains Begin? The dramatic or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to supplying drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property. From the beginning, outdoor fountains were soley there to serve as functional elements. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs in the vicinity. Used until the 19th century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their source of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity. Acting as an element of adornment and celebration, fountains also supplied clean, fresh drinking water. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times used by Romans to decorate their fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to re-create the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to demonstrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to laud their positions by adding beautiful baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into 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. The introduction of special water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern fountains are used to adorn community spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.
Architectural Statuary in Ancient Greece
Architectural Statuary in Ancient Greece Most sculptors were paid by the temples to adorn the elaborate pillars and archways with renderings of the gods until the stage 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 people as well. Rich families would often times commission a rendering of their forefathers for their big family burial tombs; portraiture additionally became frequent and would be appropriated by the Romans upon their acquisition of Greek society. All through the many years of The Greek Classical period, a time of visual progress, the use of sculpture and many other art forms transformed, so it is incorrect to say that the arts delivered merely one purpose.
Greek sculpture is possibly enticing to us nowadays as it was an avant-garde experiment in the ancient world, so it doesn't matter whether or not its original purpose was religious zeal or artistic enjoyment.