Bernini’s Very First Italian Water Fountains
Bernini’s Very First Italian Water Fountains Bernini's earliest water fountain, named Barcaccia, is a breath taking work of art found at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. This area continues to be filled with Roman locals and tourists who like to exchanging gossip or going over the day's news. Today, the city streets surrounding Bernini's fountain are a trendy area where people go to gather, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. In around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII helped Bernini launch his career with the construction of his first water fountain. Illustrated in the fountain's design is a great vessel gradually sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. Period reports dating back to the 16th century show that the fountain was constructed as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the great flooding of the Tevere. In what became his sole extended absence from Italy, Bernini {journeyed | traveled] to France in 1665.
Where did Landscape Fountains Come From?
Where did Landscape Fountains Come From? The amazing or decorative 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.The main purpose of a fountain was originally strictly functional.
People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs nearby. Up to the late 19th century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water move down or shoot high into the air. Fountains were an excellent source of water, and also served to decorate living areas and memorialize the artist. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were frequently seen on Roman fountains. To illustrate the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages added fountains to their designs. Fountains played a considerable role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exercise his power over nature. To mark the entryway of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the construction of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts arrived in the city of Rome
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 ornamental. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.