Where did Landscape Fountains Begin?
Where did Landscape Fountains Begin? A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to provide drinking water, as well as for decorative purposes.
Originally, fountains only served a functional purpose. 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 take advantage of gravity which fed the fountains. Fountains were not only used as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the artist who created it. The main materials used by the Romans to create their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly illustrating animals or heroes. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to mimic the gardens of paradise. To show his prominence over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to extol their positions by including decorative baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
The end of the nineteenth century saw the rise in usage of indoor plumbing to supply drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to strictly decorative elements. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity allowed fountains to deliver recycled water into living spaces as well as create special water effects.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the functions of modern-day fountains.
"Primitive" Greek Artwork: Outdoor Statuary
"Primitive" Greek Artwork: Outdoor Statuary The Archaic Greeks built the first freestanding statuary, an impressive achievement as most sculptures up until then had been reliefs cut into walls and pillars.
Youthful, appealing male or female (kore) Greeks were the subject matter of most of the sculptures, or kouros figures. Considered by Greeks to represent beauty, the kouroi were formed into inflexible, forward facing positions with one foot outstretched, and the male statues were always nude, well-built, and athletic. In 650 BC, life-size versions of the kouroi began to be observed. The Archaic period was turbulent for the Greeks as they progressed into more sophisticated forms of government and art, and obtained more information and facts about the peoples and cultures outside of Greece. Equivalent to many other times of historical conflict, conflicts were commonplace, and there were battles between city-states like The Arcadian wars, the Spartan invasion of Samos.