Ancient Outdoor Water Feature Artists
Ancient Outdoor Water Feature Artists Multi-talented people, fountain designers from the 16th to the late 18th century often worked as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and cultivated scholars all in one person. During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci exemplified the artist as a innovative master, inventor and scientific virtuoso. He methodically noted his findings in his now recognized notebooks, following his enormous interest in the forces of nature led him to explore the characteristics and mobility of water. Early Italian water feature engineers transformed private villa settings into ingenious water exhibits full of symbolic meaning and natural beauty by coupling creativity with hydraulic and gardening expertise. The humanist Pirro Ligorio supplied the vision behind the splendors in Tivoli and was celebrated for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden design.
Masterminding the excellent water marbles, water features and water pranks for the assorted estates near Florence, other water feature designers were well versed in humanistic issues and classical scientific texts.
Where did Landscape Fountains Come From?
Where did Landscape Fountains Come From?
The amazing or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, as well as supplying drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property. Originally, fountains only served a practical purpose. Inhabitants of cities, townships and small towns used them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains had to be connected to nearby aqueduct or spring. Up to the late 19th century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water flow down or shoot high into the air. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and memorialize the designer. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were commonly seen on Roman 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 illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were extolled with baroque style fountains built to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm 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 enabled fountains to bring recycled water into living spaces as well as create special water effects.
Nowadays, fountains adorn public spaces and are used to recognize individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.