Where did Large Garden Fountains Begin?
Where did Large Garden Fountains Begin? A fountain, an amazing piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also launch water high into the air for an extraordinary effect.
From the beginning, outdoor fountains were simply meant to serve as functional elements. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Used until the 19th century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their source of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity. Artists thought of fountains as wonderful additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to provide clean water and honor the artist responsible for creating it. Roman fountains usually depicted images of animals or heroes made of metal or stone masks. Muslims and Moorish garden designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. The fountains found in the Gardens of Versailles were intended to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries manufactured baroque decorative fountains to glorify the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the location where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Indoor plumbing became the key source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby limiting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. The creation of unique water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.
The Original Water Fountain Manufacturers
The Original Water Fountain Manufacturers Water fountain designers were multi-talented people from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century, often working as architects, sculptors, artisans, engineers and highly educated scholars all in one person. Exemplifying the Renaissance skilled artist as a imaginative genius, Leonardo da Vinci performed as an inventor and scientific expert. He methodically recorded his ideas in his now recognized notebooks, after his immense interest in the forces of nature inspired him to research the properties and movement of water.
Early Italian water fountain builders altered private villa configurations into innovative water showcases full with symbolic meaning and natural beauty by combining imagination with hydraulic and horticultural talent. The humanist Pirro Ligorio, distinguished for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden design, provided the vision behind the wonders in Tivoli. Masterminding the excellent water marbles, water features and water antics for the numerous mansions in the vicinity of Florence, some other fountain designers were well versed in humanistic subjects as well as ancient technical texts.