Gurari Collections

Georg Andras Bockler (1617-1687), German architect and writer who was active in Nuremberg and Frankfurt between 1644 and 1687. None of his buildings having survived, today he is best known for his publications, most notably, “Architectura Curiosa Nova,” (1664) or “new architectural curiosities.” This work consists of imaginative renderings of fantasy fountains, which exemplify the Baroque style in Northern Europe. Bockler compiled designs for garden fountains and gardens from a variety of French, Italian, German and English sources. These were gathered by the publisher, Paul Furst, and described by Bockler, an architect from Frankfurt-am-Main The Baroque, which swept across Europe in the seventeenth century, was elaborate and often fanciful. Artists include Bernini in sculpture, Caravaggio and Rubens in painting, and Wren and Borromini in architecture. Bockler’s fountains, designed for publication rather than to be built to accompany palaces or grand public buildings, reflect his expertise in hydraulics and are a unique combination of his mechanical skill and his fertile artistic imagination. . Bockler compiled designs for garden fountains and gardens from a variety of French, Italian, German and English sources. Bockler, Georg Andrea; from Architectura Curiosa Nova…Nuremberg; Paul Furst: 1664.