Gian Bernini's Water Fountains
Gian Bernini's Water Fountains In Rome’s city center, there are countless celebrated fountains. One of the best ever sculptors and artists of the 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed, conceived and built nearly all of them. He was also a city architect, in addition to his skills as a fountain engineer, and remnants of his life's work are apparent all through the streets of Rome. A celebrated Florentine sculptor, Bernini's father guided his young son, and they ultimately transferred to Rome to fully express their art, primarily in the form of public water features and water fountains. An diligent employee, the young Bernini received praise and the backing of various popes and influential designers. His sculpture was initially his claim to glory. An authority in historical Greek engineering, he used this knowledge as a base and melded it gracefully with Roman marble, most remarkably in the Vatican. He was affected by many a great artists, however, Michelangelo had the biggest effect on his work.Where did Fountains Begin?
Where did Fountains Begin? The incredible construction of a fountain allows it to provide clean water or shoot water high into air for dramatic effect and it can also serve as an excellent design feature to complement your home.Pure functionality was the original role of fountains. 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.
Up to the late nineteenth century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water move down or jet high into the air. Fountains were not only utilized as a water source for drinking water, but also to decorate homes and celebrate the artist who created it. Roman fountains often depicted imagery of animals or heroes made of metal or stone masks. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners included fountains to create mini variations of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to demonstrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains constructed to mark the place of entry of Roman aqueducts.
Since indoor plumbing became the norm of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely ornamental. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by replacing the power of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern-day fountains function mostly as decoration for community spaces, to honor individuals or events, and enhance entertainment and recreational gatherings.
The Original Fountain Designers
The Original Fountain Designers Frequently working as architects, sculptors, artists, engineers and cultivated scholars, all in one, fountain creators were multi-talented individuals from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century. Exemplifying the Renaissance skilled artist as a imaginative legend, Leonardo da Vinci toiled as an innovator and scientific guru.
With his astounding curiosity about the forces of nature, he investigated the characteristics and mobility of water and carefully documented his observations in his now much celebrated notebooks. Converting private villa settings into innovative water showcases full with symbolic interpretation and natural beauty, early Italian water feature designers paired curiosity with hydraulic and horticultural expertise. The splendors in Tivoli were developed by the humanist Pirro Ligorio, who was celebrated for his skill in archeology, engineering and garden design. For the assorted estates in the vicinity of Florence, other water fountain designers were well versed in humanistic topics as well as classical technical texts, masterminding the incredible water marbles, water highlights and water antics.