Roman Gardens And Their Sculpture And Fountains

Garden Sculpture & Fountains added much to the decorative effect of the Roman garden. Carved balustrades, benches, tables, bas-reliefs, and statuary were considered the most important part of many gardens, and were beautifully designed. This ornamentation can be supplied through shiploads of sculptures, artistic fountains, and statuary that are exported from Greece.

As in Greece, garden statues were usually set up in honor of some appropriate divinity. The images of Pan, Sylvanus, Pomona, Vertumnus, the Graces, and the Seasons were erected frequently. There are terminal statues from which a votive garland of flowers might be hung and have knobs below the shoulders and these are especially fit for the open air.

Refreshment being one of the most desirable luxuries for human beings and a necessity for the vegetation, an abundance of water fountains were indispensably connected with out-of-door dwelling-places. Great ingenuity was displayed in fish ponds, fountains, and baths to please the eye while the body is reinvigorated.

From an elaborate chateau d'eau to a slender font of a drinking water fountain, almost every form of ornamental hydraulics with which we are familiar, and many others now unknown, seems to have been employed by the ancients. At Pompeii there are a variety of outdoor water fountains in a good state of preservation. There's hardly a main area without a rectangular basin of water that's a foot or two deep and either lined with mosaic or marble. Usually they are placed entirely below the level of the pavement, but occasionally the edge of the basin is surmounted by a marble statue rising a few inches above the surface. A table or statue made of marble is usually placed in connection with these fountains.

Also ornamented with brightly colored niches covered with garden statuary sheltering water from fountains or mosaics and decorated with garden statues are many garden courts. Masks serving as lamps were placed on each side of these niches.

Evergreen trees and shrubs that are fantastically trimmed are the principle 'vegetate ornament' of Roman gardens. The topiaries, or chief gardener, is in charge of making sure that the evergreens are artistically shorn. Under his supervision, pyramids, cones, wild animals, hunting scenes, and even a whole fleet of ships might be shaped by skilful shears.

Author bio: Jerome Johnston publishes private label article and plr ebook.