Egeria's Font : Antonio Passaporte

Legenda: Palacete de Monserrate, interior
Nível de descrição : Documento simples - Fotografia
Dimensão: 10x15cm
Suporte: Negativo de gelatina e prata em vidro
Nome do produtor : Passaporte, António, 1901-1983

Central Hall

Beneath the Indian Gallery and Central Dome and surrounding Egeria's Fountain is the Central Hall. The columns are of "Cintra's choicest stone, Blue marble". The arched recesses, that at some time contained statues, stand within pointed Gothic arches. These arches have an internal decoration of gothicised vegetation forming a pierced tympanum above a secondary circular arch. The spandrels are decorated with plaster reliefs that "shine with leaf and bell Of Scotia's saucy emblem flower" (The Thistle) and above this there is a frieze of fruiting vines: "And higher, fruit and foliage fine Betray the rich, the truant vine, Luxurient trailer !"

Medievalists regarded the thistle as a fine British substitute for the classicist acanthus.

Ruskin wrote in his Seven Lamps of Architecture a description of a gothic capital containing thistle decoration that could be applied to this spandrel: "four branches of thistle-leaves, whose stems, springing from the angles, bend outwards and fall back to the head, throwing their jaggy spines down upon the full light, forming two sharp quartre- foils."

Study of a thistle - John Ruskin 1870s

Egeria's Font

Photograph of "The Central Hall" from 1929 sales brochure issued by Messrs. Knight Frank & Rutley showing Egeria, Carrara pedestal, and basin carved from Sintra Marble.

This photograph shows that the nymph was facing down the main corridor,with the Music Room behind her (see curtained windows in the background). Kentia palms stood on Chinese porcelain garden seats in the surrounding arches. Fountain is decorated with Tree Ferns and Hydrangeas.