Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Public Fountains

Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Public Fountains Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Public Fountains 155451932099.jpg

There are numerous famous water fountains in Rome’s city center. One of the greatest sculptors and designers of the 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini planned, conceptualized and constructed almost all of them. His abilities as a water feature developer and also as a city architect, are visible all through the roads of Rome. Bernini's father, a renowned Florentine sculptor, mentored his young son, and they ultimately moved to Rome, in order to fully express their art, primarily in the form of public water fountains and water features. The young Bernini received encouragement from Popes and influential artists alike, and was an exceptional employee. His sculpture was originally his claim to glory. An authority in classic Greek architecture, he used this knowledge as a foundation and melded it flawlessly with Roman marble, most remarkably in the Vatican. He was affected by many a great artists, however, Michelangelo had the biggest impact on his work.

Back Story of Garden Fountains

Back Story of Garden Fountains Himself a learned man, Pope Nicholas V led the Roman Catholic Church from 1397 till 1455 and was responsible for the translation of hundreds of ancient documents from their original Greek into Latin. Back Story Garden Fountains 2503682495445979332.jpg

Back Story Garden Fountains 2503682495445979332.jpg

In order to make Rome deserving of being the capital of the Christian world, the Pope resolved to embellish the beauty of the city. In 1453 the Pope commissioned the rebuilding of the Aqua Vergine, an historic Roman aqueduct which had carried fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away. Building a mostra, an imposing celebratory fountain built by ancient Romans to memorialize the entry point of an aqueduct, was a tradition revived by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was directed by the Pope to construct a wall fountain where we now see the Trevi Fountain. The aqueduct he had refurbished included modifications and extensions which eventually enabled it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.