From Where Did Water Fountains Originate?
From Where Did Water Fountains Originate?
The translation of hundreds of ancient Greek documents into Latin was commissioned by the learned Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. It was important for him to beautify the city of Rome to make it worthy of being called the capital of the Christian world. At the behest of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a ruined aqueduct which had transported clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was restored starting in 1453. A mostra, a monumental commemorative fountain built by ancient Romans to mark the point of arrival of an aqueduct, was a tradition which was revived by Nicholas V. At the behest of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti undertook the construction of a wall fountain in the spot where we now find the Trevi Fountain. Adjustments and extensions, included in the restored aqueduct, eventually provided the Trevi Fountain and the well-known baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona with the necessary water supply.
The Dispersion of Water Fountain Design Knowledge
The Dispersion of Water Fountain Design Knowledge Instrumental to the advancement of scientific technology were the published letters and illustrated publications of the time. They were also the principal means of transferring useful hydraulic facts and water fountain design ideas throughout Europe. An unnamed French water fountain designer came to be an internationally renowned hydraulic leader in the later part of the 1500's.
His know-how in creating landscapes and grottoes with integrated and brilliant water features began in Italy and with commissions in Brussels, London and Germany. The text, “The Principles of Moving Forces,” written near the end of his life in France, turned out to be the fundamental text on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. Replacing key hydraulic discoveries of classical antiquity, the publication also highlights contemporary hydraulic technologies. Prominent among these works were those of Archimedes, the inventor of the water screw, a mechanized way of moving water. An decorative spring with the sun heating up the water in two vessels hidden in an neighboring accommodation was displayed in one illustration. The heated liquid expands and then ascends and shuts the water pipes thereby activating the fountain. Designs for pumps, water wheels, water features and garden ponds are also mentioned in the publication.
For many years now, hospitals and health care facilities have used interior fountains to establish a stressless, serene environment.A meditative state can be brought about in people who hear the soft music of trickling water....
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The area outside your home can be enhanced by including a wall or a garden fountain to your landscaping or garden project.A myriad of present-day designers and fountain craftsmen have found inspiration in the fountains and water features of the past....
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Archaic Greeks were known for creating the first freestanding statuary; up until then, most carvings were constructed out of walls and pillars as reliefs.Kouros figures, sculptures of young, handsome male or female (kore) Greeks, made up the bulk of the statues....
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The Anglo-Saxon way of life was drastically changed by the appearance of the Normans in the later eleventh century.At the time of the conquest, the Normans surpassed the Anglo-Saxons in building design and cultivation....
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