Bernini's Public Fountains
Bernini's Public Fountains There are countless celebrated fountains in the city center of Rome. One of the best ever sculptors and designers of the 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed, created and built almost all of them. His expertise as a water fountain designer and also as a city architect, are evident throughout the streets of Rome.
Modern Garden Decoration: Garden Fountains and their Roots
Modern Garden Decoration: Garden Fountains and their Roots The amazing or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to providing drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.From the beginning, outdoor fountains were soley there to serve as functional elements. Residents of cities, townships and small towns used them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains needed to be connected to nearby aqueduct or spring. Up to the late nineteenth century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water move downwards or shoot high into the air. Designers thought of fountains as wonderful additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to provide clean water and celebrate the designer responsible for building it. Roman fountains often depicted images of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. Fountains played a considerable role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exercise his power over nature. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries manufactured baroque decorative fountains to exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby restricting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. The introduction of special water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the uses of modern-day fountains.
How Mechanical Designs And Styles of Fountains Spread
How Mechanical Designs And Styles of Fountains Spread
The Defining Characteristics of Ancient Greek Sculpture
The Defining Characteristics of Ancient Greek Sculpture Archaic Greeks were well known for creating the first freestanding statuary; up until then, most carvings were formed out of walls and pillars as reliefs. For the most part the statues, or kouros figures, were of young and desirable male or female (kore) Greeks. Representing beauty to the Greeks, the kouroi were crafted to look stiff and commonly had foot in front; the males were healthy, powerful, and nude. Around 650 BC, life-size forms of the kouroi began to be seen. Throughout the Archaic period, a great time of change, the Greeks were evolving new types of government, expressions of art, and a larger awareness of people and cultures outside Greece.