Modern Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots
Modern Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to provide drinkable water, as well as for decorative purposes.Pure practicality was the original role of fountains. Residents of urban areas, townships and small towns used them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash up, which meant that fountains had to be linked to nearby aqueduct or spring. 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. Designers thought of fountains as amazing additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to provide clean water and honor the designer responsible for creating it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often used by Romans to decorate their fountains.
During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to mimic the gardens of paradise. The fountains seen in the Gardens of Versailles were meant to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. 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. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to permit fountains to bring in clean water and allow for amazing water displays.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the uses of modern-day fountains.
Archaic Greek Artwork: Garden Statuary
Archaic Greek Artwork: Garden Statuary The first freestanding sculpture was improved by the Archaic Greeks, a recognized accomplishment since until then the only carvings in existence were reliefs cut into walls and pillars. Most of the freestanding statues were of young, winsome male or female (kore) Greeks and are known as kouros figures.
The kouroi, considered by the Greeks to represent beauty, had one foot extended out of a strict forward-facing posture and the male figurines were always nude, with a compelling, strong build. Life-sized versions of the kouroi appeared beginning in 650 BC. During the Archaic period, a great time of change, the Greeks were developing new types of government, expressions of art, and a greater comprehension of people and cultures outside Greece. Throughout this time and other durations of historic tumultuousness, clashes often took place, including wars fought amongst city-states such as the Arcadian wars and the Spartan invasion of Samos.