Modern Garden Decoration: Large Outdoor Water Fountains and their Roots
Modern Garden Decoration: Large Outdoor Water Fountains and their Roots The incredible construction of a fountain allows it to provide clean water or shoot water high into air for dramatic effect and it can also serve as an excellent design feature to complete your home.
From the onset, outdoor fountains were soley meant to serve as functional elements. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to provide them with potable water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Up until the nineteenth, fountains had to be more elevated and closer to a water supply, such as aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to benefit from gravity which fed the fountains. Fountains were not only used as a water source for drinking water, but also to decorate homes and celebrate the artist who created it. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were frequently seen on Roman fountains. Muslims and Moorish landscaping designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. Fountains played a significant role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exert his power over nature. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were extolled with baroque style fountains constructed to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby limiting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by switching the power of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Contemporary fountains are used to adorn public spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.
Bernini's Earliest Showpieces
Bernini's Earliest Showpieces Bernini's earliest water fountain, named Barcaccia, is a breath taking work of art found at the bottom of the Trinita dei Monti in Piaza di Spagna.
To this day, you will see Roman locals and vacation goers occupying this spot to revel in chit chatter and being among other people. Today, the city streets surrounding Bernini's water fountain are a trendy place where people go to meet, something which the artist would have been pleased to learn. In around 1630, Pope Urbano VIII helped Bernini start off his professional life with the construction of his very first water fountain. Illustrated in the fountain's design is a large ship gradually sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. According to 16th century texts, a great flood of the Tevere covered the entire area in water, an event which was memorialized by the tremendous fountain. In 1665, France was graced by Bernini's one-and-only lengthy voyage outside of Italy.