Contemporary Garden Decor: Fountains and their Beginnings
Contemporary Garden Decor: Fountains and their Beginnings 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 a noteworthy effect.Pure practicality was the original purpose of fountains. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, via aqueducts or springs in the area. Until the late nineteenth, 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. Artists thought of fountains as wonderful additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to supply clean water and honor the designer responsible for building it. The main components used by the Romans to build their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly illustrating animals or heroes. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create smaller depictions of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to demonstrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains built to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
The end of the nineteenth century saw the increase in usage of indoor plumbing to supply drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to strictly decorative elements.
Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by replacing the power of gravity with mechanical pumps.
These days, fountains adorn public areas and are used to honor individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
The Magificent First Wonders by Bernini
The Magificent First Wonders by Bernini The Barcaccia, Bernini's first water fountain, is a magnificent chef d'oeuvre built at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna.
This spot is still filled with Roman locals and tourists who enjoy exchanging gossip or going over the day's news. Today, the city streets around Bernini's water fountain are a trendy place where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. The master's first fountain of his career was built at around 1630 at the request of Pope Urbano VIII. The fountain’s central motif is based on a massive boat slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. According to 16th century documents, a great flood of the Tevere covered the entire area in water, an event which was memorialized by the tremendous fountain. Absenting himself from Italy only once in his life for a prolonged time period, in 1665 Bernini traveled to France.
At What Point Did Water Fountains Originate?
At What Point Did Water Fountains Originate? Himself a highly educated man, Pope Nicholas V led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 till 1455 and was responsible for the translation of hundreds of ancient texts from their original Greek into Latin. It was important for him to beautify the city of Rome to make it worthy of being known as the capital of the Christian world. In 1453 the Pope instigated the rebuilding of the Aqua Vergine, an ancient Roman aqueduct which had carried fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away.
Building a mostra, a grandiose commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a tradition revived by Nicholas V. The present-day location of the Trevi Fountain was once occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and built by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. The water which eventually provided the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona came from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.