Bernini’s Early Italian Water Fountains

Bernini’s Early Italian Water Fountains Bernini's earliest water fountain, named Barcaccia, is a masterful work of art found at the bottom 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 place where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. Bernini’s Early Italian Water Fountains 77777091391029.jpg

Dating back to around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII mandated what was to be the very first water fountain of the master's career. A massive boat slowly sinking into the Mediterranean is the fountain's main theme. The great flooding of the Tevere that blanketed the whole region with water in the 16th was memorialized by this momentous fountain as recorded by documents dating back to this period. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's one-and-only extended voyage outside of Italy.

Rome’s First Water Delivery Systems

Rome’s First Water Delivery Systems Rome’s first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; before that, residents living at higher elevations had to depend on local streams for their water. Over this period, there were only 2 other technologies capable of supplying water to high areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which accumulated rainwater. In the early sixteenth century, the city began to make use of the water that flowed beneath the earth through Acqua Vergine to furnish drinking water to Pincian Hill. The aqueduct’s channel was made reachable by pozzi, or manholes, that were placed along its length when it was first developed. Whilst these manholes were created to make it simpler and easier to sustain the aqueduct, it was also feasible to use containers to remove water from the channel, which was carried out by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he purchased the property in 1543 to his passing in 1552. The cistern he had made to obtain rainwater wasn’t satisfactory to meet his water specifications. To give himself with a more streamlined means to gather water, he had one of the manholes opened up, giving him access to the aqueduct below his residence.