Rossi’s Saint Anthony, from Beckford’s Oratories to Sir Francis Cook’s ‘Sanctuary’ in Monserrate Palace, Portugal

Abstract

William Beckford’s statue of Saint Anthony, sculpted by John Rossi, included one of the most valued pieces of his art collection. As this paper argues, this statue was modeled after a sixteenth century sculpture of the Church of Saint Anthony located in Lisbon. The statue played a major role at Fonthill Abbey, where it was displayed in a sumptuous sanctuary. The same occurred in Lansdown Tower, enthroned in a new oratory. After Beckford’s death, the art collector Francis Cook purchased the statue for his Monserrate estate in Sintra, where Beckford lived between 1794 and 1795. The Lansdown sanctuary was then recreated in Monserrateas an intriguing homage to Beckford.