Fontein in de tuinen van de Villa Aldobrandini te Frascati 1653 - 1691

Giovanni Battista Falda made this print of the fountain in the gardens of the Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati, Italy, in the second half of the 17th century. Falda’s print captures the grandiose fountains that were becoming fashionable among wealthy landowners. But these were more than status symbols; they represented a triumph of engineering and control over nature. Notice the inscription at the bottom, proudly explaining how the water is derived from aqueducts six miles away. Such displays of hydraulic prowess demonstrated the owner's wealth and power to marshal resources. The Villa Aldobrandini was just one node in a complex network of patronage, engineering expertise, and labor. To fully understand this image, we can turn to estate records, architectural plans, and even the biographies of the engineers involved. These types of historical resources help us to understand the social and institutional contexts that shaped its creation. The meaning of art changes according to those contexts.