Acqua Vergine: The Answer to Rome's Water Problems
Acqua Vergine: The Answer to Rome's Water Problems Rome’s 1st raised aqueduct, Aqua Anio Vetus, was built in 273 BC; before that, residents residing at higher elevations had to rely on local springs for their water. When aqueducts or springs weren’t easily accessible, people dwelling at higher elevations turned to water drawn from underground or rainwater, which was made available by wells and cisterns.
In the very early sixteenth century, the city began to use the water that ran below ground through Acqua Vergine to furnish water to Pincian Hill. Throughout the length of the aqueduct’s passage were pozzi, or manholes, that gave entry. Whilst these manholes were created to make it less difficult to preserve the aqueduct, it was also feasible to use buckets to extract water from the channel, which was exercised by Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi from the time he acquired the property in 1543 to his passing in 1552. Despite the fact that the cardinal also had a cistern to accumulate rainwater, it didn’t supply enough water. That is when he made a decision to create an access point to the aqueduct that ran underneath his residence.
Ancient Water Fountain Artists
Ancient Water Fountain Artists Fountain designers were multi-talented people from the 16th to the later part of the 18th century, often working as architects, sculptors, artisans, engineers and highly educated scholars all in one person. During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci illustrated the creator as a imaginative intellect, inventor and scientific specialist. He methodically documented his experiences in his now famed notebooks, following his mind boggling fascination in the forces of nature guided him to investigate the qualities and mobility of water. Remodeling private villa settings into imaginative water displays complete of symbolic meaning and natural beauty, early Italian water feature designers fused imagination with hydraulic and horticultural expertise.
The humanist Pirro Ligorio, celebrated for his virtuosity in archeology, architecture and garden design, offered the vision behind the splendors in Tivoli. For the various lands near Florence, other water feature developers were well versed in humanist topics as well as ancient technical texts, masterminding the excellent water marbles, water attributes and water antics.
Back Story of Fountains
Back Story of Fountains
The translation of hundreds of classical Greek documents into Latin was commissioned by the scholarly Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. In order to make Rome worthy of being the capital of the Christian world, the Pope decided to embellish the beauty of the city. In 1453 the Pope instigated the repairing of the Aqua Vergine, an historic Roman aqueduct which had carried fresh drinking water into the city from eight miles away. The ancient Roman tradition of building an awe-inspiring commemorative fountain at the location where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was revived by Nicholas V. The present-day site of the Trevi Fountain was previously occupied by a wall fountain commissioned by the Pope and constructed by the architect Leon Battista Alberti. The aqueduct he had refurbished included modifications and extensions which eventually enabled it to supply water to the Trevi Fountain as well as the renowned baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Navona.
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Garden Fountains and their Beginnings
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Garden Fountains and their Beginnings The incredible architecture 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 complete your home. The central purpose of a fountain was originally strictly functional. Inhabitants of urban areas, townships and small towns utilized them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains had to be connected to nearby aqueduct or spring. Until the late 19th, century most water fountains functioned using gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a supply of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and memorialize the designer. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often utilized by Romans to decorate their fountains. Muslims and Moorish landscaping designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller versions of the gardens of paradise. Fountains played a considerable role in the Gardens of Versailles, all part of French King Louis XIV’s desire to exert his power over nature. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were glorified with baroque style fountains built to mark the arrival points 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 decorative. Impressive water effects and recycled water were made possible by replacing the force of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Contemporary fountains are used to embellish public spaces, honor individuals or events, and enhance recreational and entertainment events.