Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Public Fountains

Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Public Fountains There are many famous water fountains in Rome’s city center. One of the best ever sculptors and designers of the 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed, conceptualized and built almost all of them. His abilities as a water fountain developer and also as a city architect, are obvious throughout the roads of Rome. Bernini's father, a renowned Florentine sculptor, mentored his young son, and they ultimately moved to Rome, in order to fully express their art, primarily in the form of public water fountains and water features. The juvenile Bernini was an exceptional worker and attained encouragement and patronage of important painters as well as popes. At the start he was renowned for his sculptural abilities. Working gracefully with Roman marble, he made use of a base of experience in the historical Greek architecture, most especially in the Vatican. Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Public Fountains 48574139116.jpg

Although many artists had an impact on his work, Michelangelo had the most profound effect.

Aqueducts: The Answer to Rome's Water Challenges

Aqueducts: The Answer to Rome's Water Challenges Aqua Anio Vetus, the first raised aqueduct assembled in Rome, commenced supplying the individuals living in the hills with water in 273 BC, even though they had counted on natural springs up until then. Aqueducts: Answer Rome's Water Challenges 011720517530065.jpg

Aqueducts: Answer Rome's Water Challenges 011720517530065.jpg

Outside of these aqueducts and springs, wells and rainwater-collecting cisterns were the sole techniques readily available at the time to supply water to segments of high elevation. Beginning in the sixteenth century, a newer strategy was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean portions to provide water to Pincian Hill. Through its initial construction, pozzi (or manholes) were added at set intervals alongside the aqueduct’s channel. The manholes made it more straightforward to clean the channel, but it was also achievable to use buckets to extract water from the aqueduct, as we saw with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he possessed the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he passed away. He didn’t get adequate water from the cistern that he had built on his residential property to collect rainwater. Thankfully, the aqueduct sat under his residence, and he had a shaft opened to give him access.

Bernini's First Masterpieces

Bernini's First Masterpieces The Barcaccia, Bernini's very first fountain, is a striking chef d'oeuvre built at the foot of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. Roman residents and site seers who appreciate conversation as well as being the company of others still go to this spot. Today, the city streets surrounding Bernini's water fountain are a trendy place where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. In about 1630, the great master designed the first fountain of his career at the behest of Pope Ubano VIII. The fountain’s central motif is based on an enormous boat slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. Period writings dating back to the 16th century show that the fountain was constructed as a monument to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. In 1665 Bernini traveled to France, in what was to be his only prolonged absence from Italy.