The Origins Of Fountains
The Origins Of Fountains
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. The central purpose of a fountain was originally strictly practical. Water fountains were linked to a spring or aqueduct to provide potable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. 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. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and celebrate the designer. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times used by Romans to decorate their fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to re-create the gardens of paradise. The fountains found in the Gardens of Versailles were meant to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. To mark the entryway of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the construction of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts entered the city of Rome
Urban fountains made at the end of the nineteenth served only as decorative and celebratory ornaments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity enabled fountains to bring recycled water into living spaces as well as create unique water effects.
Modern fountains are used to adorn public spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.
The Source of Modern Wall Fountains
The Source of Modern Wall Fountains Hundreds of classic Greek documents were translated into Latin under the authority of the scholarly Pope Nicholas V, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455. He undertook the beautification of Rome to turn it into the worthy seat of the Christian world. Starting in 1453, the ruined ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Aqua Vergine which had brought fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away, underwent reconstruction at the behest of the Pope. The historical Roman tradition of marking the entry point of an aqueduct with an magnificent celebratory fountain, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V.
The present-day site of the Trevi Fountain was once occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and built by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. The aqueduct he had reconditioned included modifications and extensions which eventually allowed it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the renowned baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.
Builders of the First Fountains
Builders of the First Fountains
Commonly serving as architects, sculptors, designers, engineers and discerning scholars, all in one, fountain designers were multi-talented individuals from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century. Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance artist, was renowned as a creative master, inventor and scientific master. He systematically documented his ideas in his currently celebrated notebooks, after his tremendous fascination in the forces of nature guided him to examine the characteristics and mobility of water. Coupling imagination with hydraulic and gardening expertise, early Italian water feature creators changed private villa settings into brilliant water exhibits complete with emblematic meaning and natural beauty. Known for his incredible skill in archeology, design and garden design, Pirro Ligorio, the humanist, delivered the vision behind the magnificence in Tivoli. For the various mansions close to Florence, other water fountain designers were well versed in humanistic topics as well as ancient scientific texts, masterminding the extraordinary water marbles, water attributes and water jokes.