Anglo Saxon Gardens at the Time of the Norman Conquest

Anglo Saxon Gardens at the Time of the Norman Conquest The advent of the Normans in the second half of the 11th century substantially modified The Anglo-Saxon ways of living. The Normans were better than the Anglo-Saxons at architecture and horticulture when they came into power. But before centering on home-life or having the occasion to consider domestic architecture or decoration, the Normans had to subjugate an entire population. Anglo Saxon Gardens Time Norman Conquest 29019655.jpg

Anglo Saxon Gardens Time Norman Conquest 29019655.jpg

Castles were more standard designs and often built on blustery hills, where their tenants spent both time and space to exercising offense and defense, while monasteries were major stone buildings, regularly situated in the widest, most fertile hollows. The bare fortresses did not provide for the peaceful avocation of farming. The early Anglo-Norman style of architecture is symbolized in Berkeley Castle, which is conceivably the most unscathed illustration we have. The keep is thought to date from the time of William the Conqueror. A massive terrace serves as a hindrance to invaders who would try to mine the walls of the building. A scenic bowling green, enveloped in grass and enclosed by battlements cut out of an ancient yew hedge, makes one of the terraces.

Bernini: The Master of Italy's Most Impressive Fountains

Bernini: The Master of Italy's Most Impressive Fountains Bernini: Master Italy's Impressive Fountains 3601791000.jpg

One can see Bernini's earliest masterpiece, the Barcaccia fountain, at the base of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna. Roman residents and site seers who appreciate conversation as well as being the company of others still go to this spot. One of the city’s most fashionable meeting spots are the streets surrounding Bernini's fountain, which would undoubtedly have brought a smile to the great Bernini. In around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII helped Bernini launch his career with the construction of his first fountain. People can now see the fountain as a depiction of a great ship slowly sinking into the Mediterranean. The great 16th century flood of the Tevere, which left the entire region inundated with water, was memorialized by the water fountain according to documents from the time. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's one-and-only lengthy voyage outside of Italy.

"Old School" Fountain Creative Designers

Water feature designers were multi-talented people from the 16th to the late 18th century, often serving as architects, sculptors, artisans, engineers and highly educated scholars all in one. Leonardo da Vinci as a creative intellect, inventor and scientific virtuoso exemplified this Renaissance artist. He methodically recorded his ideas in his currently celebrated notebooks, following his tremendous fascination in the forces of nature guided him to research the characteristics and movement of water. Brilliant water exhibits full with symbolic significance and natural grace transformed private villa settings when early Italian water feature creators combined imagination with hydraulic and landscaping abilities. The humanist Pirro Ligorio supplied the vision behind the wonders in Tivoli and was recognized for his abilities in archeology, architecture and garden design. Masterminding the fascinating water marbles, water features and water antics for the assorted mansions in the vicinity of Florence, other water fountain builders were well versed in humanistic topics and time-honored technical texts.

The Source of Modern Day Fountains

The Source of Modern Day Fountains The translation of hundreds of ancient Greek documents into Latin was commissioned by the scholarly Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 till 1455. Source Modern Day Fountains 35536842036289.jpg

Source Modern Day Fountains 35536842036289.jpg

It was imperative for him to beautify the city of Rome to make it worthy of being called the capital of the Christian world. In 1453 the Pope instigated the rebuilding of the Aqua Vergine, an historic Roman aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away. A mostra, a monumental commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to mark the point of arrival of an aqueduct, was a custom which was restored by Nicholas V. At the behest of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti began the construction of a wall fountain in the place where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The aqueduct he had refurbished included modifications and extensions which eventually enabled it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.