A Chronicle of Wall Fountains
A Chronicle of Wall Fountains Hundreds of ancient Greek texts were translated into Latin under the auspices of the scholarly Pope Nicholas V, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 to 1455. Beautifying Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the center of his ambitions. Beginning in 1453, the ruined ancient Roman aqueduct known as the Aqua Vergine which had brought clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away, underwent repair at the behest of the Pope. Building a mostra, an imposing commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the arrival point of an aqueduct, was a tradition revived by Nicholas V. The Trevi Fountain now occupies the area formerly filled with a wall fountain crafted by Leon Battista Albert, an architect commissioned by the Pope. The water which eventually supplied 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.Contemporary Garden Decoration: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots 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 an extraordinary effect.The primary purpose of a fountain was originally strictly practical. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs in the vicinity. Until the late nineteenth, century most water fountains operated using the force of 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 memorialize the artist. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. To replicate the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages introduced fountains to their designs. Fountains enjoyed a significant role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exercise his power over nature. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries created baroque decorative fountains to glorify the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the location where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
The end of the 19th century saw the increase in usage of indoor plumbing to supply drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to purely decorative elements. The creation of unique water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.