Inventors of the First Outside Garden Fountains
Inventors of the First Outside Garden Fountains
Commonly serving as architects, sculptors, designers, engineers and discerning scholars, all in one, fountain designers were multi-talented people from the 16th to the late 18th century. Exemplifying the Renaissance skilled artist as a imaginative master, Leonardo da Vinci toiled as an innovator and scientific specialist. He systematically captured his ideas in his currently famed notebooks, following his mind boggling curiosity in the forces of nature guided him to investigate the qualities and movement of water. Early Italian water fountain designers converted private villa configurations into amazing water displays complete of emblematic meaning and natural elegance by combining imagination with hydraulic and gardening talent. The magnificence in Tivoli were developed by the humanist Pirro Ligorio, who was renowned for his capabilities in archeology, engineering and garden design. For the various estates near Florence, other water feature developers were well versed in humanist themes and ancient technical texts, masterminding the incredible water marbles, water attributes and water antics.
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Outdoor Fountains and their Beginnings
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Outdoor Fountains and their Beginnings The amazing or ornamental effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to delivering drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.From the onset, outdoor fountains were soley there to serve as functional elements. Residents of urban areas, townships and small towns utilized them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains had to be linked to nearby aqueduct or spring.
Until the late nineteenth, century most water fountains operated using the force of 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 provided clean, fresh drinking water. The main materials used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. To depict the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages introduced fountains to their designs. The fountains seen in the Gardens of Versailles were meant to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to extol their positions by adding beautiful baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby limiting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Gravity was substituted by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for amazing water displays.
Contemporary fountains are used to adorn public spaces, honor individuals or events, and enhance recreational and entertainment events.