A Chronicle of Fountains

A Chronicle of Fountains Hundreds of classic Greek documents were translated into Latin under the auspices of the scholarly Pope Nicholas V, who ruled the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455. Embellishing Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the core of his objectives. In 1453 the Pope commissioned the reconstruction of the Aqua Vergine, an historic Roman aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away. The ancient Roman tradition of building an awe-inspiring commemorative fountain at the location where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was revived by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was directed by the Pope to build a wall fountain where we now see the Trevi Fountain. Chronicle Fountains 70818356779216754.jpg

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The water which eventually provided the Trevi Fountain as well as the acclaimed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona came from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.

Sculpture As a Staple of Classic Art in Historic Greece

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Sculpture As a Staple of Classic Art in Historic Greece The Archaic Greeks built the very first freestanding statuary, an impressive achievement as most sculptures up until then had been reliefs cut into walls and pillars. For the most part the statues, or kouros figures, were of adolescent and attractive male or female (kore) Greeks. Regarded as by Greeks to represent beauty, the kouroi were formed into inflexible, forward facing positions with one foot outstretched, and the male statues were usually nude, muscular, and athletic. The kouroi became life-sized commencing in 650 BC. Throughout the Archaic time, a great time of changes, the Greeks were developing new types of government, expressions of art, and a deeper awareness of people and cultures outside Greece. But in spite of the issues, the Greek civilization continued to advance, unabated.

How Technical Designs of Outdoor Spread

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Contributing to the advancement of scientific technology were the printed letters and illustrated books of the day. They were also the primary method of transmitting useful hydraulic facts and water fountain design ideas throughout Europe. In the later part of the 1500's, a French fountain developer (whose name has been lost) was the globally renowned hydraulics leader. By designing landscapes and grottoes with built-in and ingenious water attributes, he began his career in Italy by receiving imperial mandates in Brussels, London and Germany. In France, near the closure of his lifetime, he penned “The Principle of Moving Forces”, a publication that became the primary text on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. Updating principal hydraulic breakthroughs of classical antiquity, the book also details modern hydraulic technologies. The water screw, a mechanical method to move water, and developed by Archimedes, was featured in the book. Natural light warmed the liquid in two concealed containers adjoining to the decorative water feature were shown in an illustration. Actuating the fountain is hot liquid that expands and rises to seal up the conduits. Models for pumps, water wheels, water attributes and outdoor ponds are also mentioned in the publication.

Creators of the First Outdoor Fountains

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Creators of the First Outdoor Fountains Often serving as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and cultivated scholars all in one, from the 16th to the late 18th century, fountain designers were multi-faceted people, Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance artist, was renowned as a inspired genius, inventor and scientific virtuoso. He systematically documented his findings in his now famed notebooks about his research into the forces of nature and the qualities and mobility of water. Converting private villa configurations into ingenious water exhibits complete with symbolic meaning and natural beauty, early Italian water fountain engineers combined imagination with hydraulic and horticultural abilities. The humanist Pirro Ligorio, renowned for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden design, delivered the vision behind the splendors in Tivoli. Masterminding the excellent water marbles, water attributes and water jokes for the numerous estates near Florence, some other water feature builders were well versed in humanist themes and ancient scientific texts.