The Godfather Of Rome's Fountains
The Godfather Of Rome's Fountains
There are many famous Roman water fountains in its city center. One of the greatest sculptors and artists of the 17th century, nearly all of them were planned, conceptualized and constructed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. His abilities as a water feature developer and also as a city designer, are observable throughout the roads of Rome. Bernini's father, a celebrated Florentine sculptor, guided his young son, and they eventually relocated in Rome, to fully express their art in the form of community water fountains and water fountains. The juvenile Bernini was an great employee and earned praise and patronage of important artists as well as popes. His sculpture was originally his claim to fame. Most famously in the Vatican, he made use of a base of experience in ancient Greek architecture and melded it seamlessly with Roman marble. Although a variety of artists impacted his artistic endeavors, Michelangelo inspired him the most.
Builders of the First Water Fountains
Builders of the First Water Fountains Water fountain designers were multi-talented individuals from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century, often serving as architects, sculptors, artisans, engineers and highly educated scholars all in one. During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci illustrated the creator as a inspired master, creator and scientific expert. He methodically reported his observations in his now much celebrated notebooks about his research into the forces of nature and the attributes and movement of water. Modifying private villa settings into innovative water showcases packed of symbolic significance and natural wonder, early Italian fountain creators coupled curiosity with hydraulic and gardening expertise. The humanist Pirro Ligorio, renowned for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden design, provided the vision behind the splendors in Tivoli. Other fountain engineers, masterminding the extraordinary water marbles, water functions and water humor for the many domains near Florence, were well-versed in humanistic themes and traditional scientific texts.From Where Did Water Features Originate?
From Where Did Water Features Originate? Pope Nicholas V, himself a learned man, reigned the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455 during which time he commissioned many translations of old classical Greek texts into Latin.
In order to make Rome worthy of being the capital of the Christian world, the Pope decided to embellish the beauty of the city. Starting in 1453, the ruined ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Aqua Vergine which had brought fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, underwent restoration at the bidding of the Pope. The ancient Roman custom of building an imposing commemorative fountain at the location where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was resurrected by Nicholas V. At the behest of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti undertook the construction of a wall fountain in the spot where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The aqueduct he had refurbished included modifications and extensions which eventually allowed it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.
Modern Garden Decoration: Large Outdoor Water Fountains and their Beginnings
Modern Garden Decoration: Large Outdoor Water Fountains and their Beginnings The dramatic or ornamental effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, as well as delivering drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.Pure functionality was the original role of fountains. Water fountains were linked to a spring or aqueduct to supply potable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Until the late 19th, century most water fountains functioned using gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a source of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Acting as an element of adornment and celebration, fountains also generated clean, fresh drinking water. Roman fountains often depicted imagery of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to re-create the gardens of paradise. Fountains enjoyed a considerable role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exert his power over nature. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries created baroque decorative fountains to exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely decorative. The creation of unique water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
These days, fountains adorn public areas and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.