Ancient Greece: The Beginnings of Outdoor Statue Design

Ancient Greece: The Beginnings of Outdoor Statue Design Although many sculptors were paid by the temples to decorate the elaborate columns and archways with renderings of the gods of old, as the period came to a close, it became more prevalent for sculptors to portray ordinary people as well because many of Greeks had begun to think of their religion as superstitious rather than sacred. In some cases, a representation of affluent families' forefathers would be commissioned to be placed inside huge familial tombs, and portraiture, which would be replicated by the Romans upon their conquest of Greek civilization, also became customary. Over the years of The Greek Classical period, a time of visual development, the use of sculpture and other art forms greatly improved, so it is inaccurate to say that the arts delivered just one purpose. Ancient Greece: Beginnings Outdoor Statue Design 091729366830.jpg

Ancient Greece: Beginnings Outdoor Statue Design 091729366830.jpg

Greek sculpture is perhaps enticing to us today seeing that it was an avant-garde experiment in the ancient world, so it doesn't matter whether or not its original function was religious zeal or artistic enjoyment.

Acqua Vergine: The Solution to Rome's Water Challenges

Acqua Vergine: The Solution to Rome's Water Challenges With the development of the 1st raised aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, individuals who lived on the city’s hillsides no longer had to depend exclusively on naturally-occurring spring water for their demands. Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the only technological innovations available at the time to supply water to segments of high elevation. Beginning in the sixteenth century, a brand new method was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean portions to provide water to Pincian Hill. Throughout the length of the aqueduct’s channel were pozzi, or manholes, that gave entry. The manholes made it easier to maintain the channel, but it was also achievable to use buckets to extract water from the aqueduct, as we observed with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he bought the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he died. Although the cardinal also had a cistern to accumulate rainwater, it couldn't produce enough water. Fortunately, the aqueduct sat directly below his property, and he had a shaft established to give him accessibility.