Bernini: The Genius Behind Italy's Most Impressive Water Fountains
Bernini: The Genius Behind Italy's Most Impressive Water Fountains The Barcaccia, Bernini's first water fountain, is a striking chef d'oeuvre built at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. To this day, you will find Roman residents and vacation goers filling this spot to revel in chit chatter and being among other people. Bernini would without a doubt have been happy to know that people still flock to what has become one the city's trendiest areas, that around his amazing water fountain. In about 1630, the great artist built the first fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. The fountain’s central theme is based on an enormous vessel slowly sinking into the Mediterranean Sea.
The great 16th century flood of the Tevere, which left the entire region inundated with water, was memorialized by the fountain according to writings from the time. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's one-and-only prolonged journey outside of Italy.
Modern Garden Decor: Fountains and their Beginnings
Modern Garden Decor: Fountains and their Beginnings The amazing 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 onset, outdoor fountains were simply there to serve as functional elements. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. 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 gravity. Designers thought of fountains as wonderful additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to supply clean water and honor the artist responsible for creating it. The main components used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners included fountains to create smaller depictions of the gardens of paradise. Fountains played a significant role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exert his power over nature. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains made to mark the place of entry of Roman aqueducts.
Urban fountains created at the end of the 19th century served only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the essential drinking water. Gravity was substituted by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for amazing water displays.
These days, fountains adorn public spaces and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
Early Water Delivery Solutions in Rome
Early Water Delivery Solutions in Rome Aqua Anio Vetus, the first raised aqueduct built in Rome, began delivering the many people living in the hills with water in 273 BC, though they had counted on natural springs up until then.
If citizens residing at higher elevations did not have access to springs or the aqueduct, they’d have to rely on the remaining existing systems of the time, cisterns that accumulated rainwater from the sky and subterranean wells that drew the water from under ground. From the beginning of the sixteenth century, water was routed to Pincian Hill by way of the underground channel of Acqua Vergine. As originally constructed, the aqueduct was provided along the length of its channel with pozzi (manholes) constructed at regular intervals. During the some 9 years he owned the residential property, from 1543 to 1552, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi employed these manholes to take water from the network in buckets, though they were previously designed for the intent of maintaining and servicing the aqueduct. The cistern he had built to collect rainwater wasn’t sufficient to meet his water demands. To provide himself with a much more practical system to assemble water, he had one of the manholes opened up, offering him access to the aqueduct below his residence.