Online Exhibits > Leonardo and the Engineers of the Renaissance > General Index

"Surprise" fountains

In the manuscripts of the Sienese engineers, fountains recur with a frequency that underscores their importance in the life of the local community.

Taccola and Francesco devoted special attention to "surprise" fountains, i.e. capable of surprising the observer by their effects. These devices had been analyzed in depth by Hero of Alexandria (1st century AD) in his Pneumatics and by Philo of Byzantium in his Pneumatics (3rd century BC), a text with which the two Sienese engineers were familiar.

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