The Root of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains

The Root of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains Hundreds of ancient Greek records were translated into Latin under the authority of the scholarly Pope Nicholas V, who ruled the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455. He undertook the embellishment of Rome to make it into the model seat of the Christian world. At the bidding of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a damaged aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was reconditioned starting in 1453. 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 began the construction of a wall fountain in the spot where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain as well as the well-known baroque fountains located in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona were eventually supplied with water from the altered aqueduct he had reconstructed.

Fountain Designers Through History

Fountain Designers Through History Often serving as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and highly educated scholars all in one, from the 16th to the late 18th century, fountain designers were multi-faceted individuals, During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci illustrated the creator as an creative master, inventor and scientific specialist. He methodically documented his experiences in his now famed notebooks, following his tremendous interest in the forces of nature led him to explore the properties and motion of water. Early Italian fountain designers converted private villa settings into amazing water showcases complete with symbolic meaning and natural elegance by coupling imagination with hydraulic and horticultural experience. The humanist Pirro Ligorio, renowned for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden design, delivered the vision behind the wonders in Tivoli. Other water fountain developers, masterminding the extraordinary water marbles, water attributes and water humor for the many mansions near Florence, were well-versed in humanist topics and time-honored scientific texts.