Ettavee art

, WILLIAM (1759–1844), author of 'Vathek,' son of William Beckford (1709-1770) [q.v.], was born at Fonthill, 29 Sept. 1759. After the death of his father ​he was educated by a private tutor, the Rev. Dr. Lettice. A public school would have afforded a more salutary discipline; the tutor, though judicious and attentive, could hardly be expected to prevent the spoiled heir to enormous wealth from growing up wilful, extravagant, and capricious. Beckford received musical instruction from Mozart, and for his father's sake was particularly noticed by Chatham, who pronounced him 'all air and fire,' and solemnly admonished the future author of 'Vathek ' against reading the 'Arabian Nights.' His precocity and talent for satire were evinced by his 'History of Extraordinary Painters,' a mystification composed in his seventeenth year in ridicule of the biographies in the 'Vies des Peintres Fla

Contemporary wall decor

Bouffants and broken hearts

Modern wall painting