Bernini’s First Italian Water Fountains

Bernini’s First Italian Water Fountains The Barcaccia, Bernini's very first water fountain, is a striking chef d'oeuvre built at the base of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. This area continues to be filled with Roman locals and visitors who like to exchanging gossip or going over the day's news. The streets neighboring his fountain have come to be one of the city’s most stylish meeting places, something which would certainly have pleased Bernini himself. In around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII helped Bernini start off his professional life with the construction of his very first water fountain. The fountain’s central motif is based on a massive ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. Period writings dating back to the 16th century indicate that the fountain was constructed as a monument to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. In what turned out to be his only extended absence from Italy, Bernini {journeyed | traveled] to France in 1665.

"Old School" Water Fountain Creative Designers

"Old School" Water Fountain Creative Designers Fountain designers were multi-talented individuals from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century, often serving as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and cultivated scholars all in one person. Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance artist, was renowned as a inspired intellect, inventor and scientific virtuoso. The forces of nature inspired him to investigate the properties and motion of water, and due to his fascination, he systematically recorded his observations in his now renowned notebooks. Ingenious water displays loaded with symbolic significance and natural charm converted private villa settings when early Italian water fountain creators paired imagination with hydraulic and gardening expertise. The humanist Pirro Ligorio provided the vision behind the wonders in Tivoli and was recognized for his skill in archeology, architecture and garden design. Other water feature designers, masterminding the extraordinary water marbles, water features and water humor for the many estates in the vicinity of Florence, were well-versed in humanist topics and classical scientific readings.