Agrippa’s Splendid Water-lifting Appliance

Agrippa’s Splendid Water-lifting Appliance Although the machine designed by Agrippa for moving water attained the respect of Andrea Bacci in 1588, it appeared to fade away not very long thereafter. It could be that the Acqua Felice, the second of Rome’s early modern aqueducts made the device useless when it was connected to the Villa Medici in 1592. Although it’s more probable that it was essentially tossed when Ferdinando ceded his cardinalship and went back to Florence, ensuring his position as the Grand Duke of Tuscany, just after the death of his sibling, Francesco di Medici, in 1588. There may have been different spectacular water-related works in Renaissance gardens in the later part of the sixteenth century, like water fountains that played music, water caprices (or giochi d’acqua) and even scenographic water presentations, but none were motorized by water that defied gravity.

Attributes of Outdoor Sculpture in Archaic Greece

Attributes of Outdoor Sculpture in Archaic Greece Archaic Greeks were well known for providing the first freestanding statuary; up until then, most carvings were made out of walls and pillars as reliefs. Attributes Outdoor Sculpture Archaic Greece 6711074745997313.jpg

Attributes Outdoor Sculpture Archaic Greece 6711074745997313.jpg

Most of the freestanding statues were of young, winsome male or female (kore) Greeks and are called kouros figures. The kouroi were believed by the Greeks to embody beauty and were sculpted with one foot leading and an uncompromising rigidity to their forward-facing poses; the male statues were always strapping, brawny, and undressing. Around 650 BC, life-size forms of the kouroi began to be seen. The Archaic period was tumultuous for the Greeks as they evolved into more polished forms of government and art, and obtained more information about the peoples and civilizations outside of Greece. During this time and other periods of historical tumult, clashes often took place, including wars fought amongst city-states such as the Arcadian wars and the Spartan invasion of Samos.

Aqueducts: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems

Aqueducts: The Solution to Rome's Water Problems Prior to 273, when the first elevated aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was made in Rome, residents who dwelled on hillsides had to go further down to collect their water from natural sources. When aqueducts or springs weren’t accessible, people living at higher elevations turned to water removed from underground or rainwater, which was made available by wells and cisterns. In the early sixteenth century, the city began to make use of the water that ran underground through Acqua Vergine to furnish water to Pincian Hill. Aqueducts: Solution Rome's Water Problems 09278906501926103.jpg

Aqueducts: Solution Rome's Water Problems 09278906501926103.jpg

The aqueduct’s channel was made accessible by pozzi, or manholes, that were positioned along its length when it was 1st designed. While these manholes were provided to make it less difficult to manage the aqueduct, it was also feasible to use buckets to remove water from the channel, which was done by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he acquired the property in 1543 to his death in 1552. The cistern he had constructed to collect rainwater wasn’t adequate to meet his water specifications. Thankfully, the aqueduct sat below his residence, and he had a shaft established to give him accessibility.