"This fountain stands at the entrance to the palace of Mon Serrat which was built originally by Beckford and in which Byron wrote Childe Harrd [Harold]. It overlooks the lines of Torres Vedras — the whole extent of which and how Wellington managed by them to keep Messena out of Portugal may be seen and understood from the windows."1
Haden visited Montserrate in Portugal in 1877.
Sir Francis Seymour Haden qualified as a doctor and practiced medicine with great success (Queen Victoria was a patient of his). He found that etching, while still an amateur, helped discipline his hand for surgery. He owned a considerable collection of Rembrandt etchings and was a connoiseur of Old Master prints. His brother-in-law was James Abbot McNeill Whistler who influenced him in pursuing his art professionally. They worked together for a while, but differences in temperament drove them apart.
Although Haden etched portraits in his early years, he later became one of the best landscape etchers of the time. He was a founder member of the Royal Society of Etchers and Engravers and tirelessly promoted prints as original works of art. He frequently visited Paris, and greatly admired the etchings of Charles Meryon.
1 Although Byron celebrated the beauties of Sintra in his poem, only the first two cantos (published in 1812) date from his visit to Portugal (canto III was written in Geneva; then the poem was completed in Venice in 1818).
Note: The preferred spelling of this town built around a medieval monastery is Sintra.
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