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The Costa Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo was furnished by Portuguese Cardinal Jorge da Costa who purchased it in 1488.
The dossal by Gian Cristoforo Romano was certainly built after 1503 because the inscription at the base calls the Cardinal the Bishop of Porto and Santa Rufina. The tripartite marble reredos is articulated by Corinthian pilasters and crowned by an elaborate pediment with the figure of God, the Father. There are three sculptures of saints in shell-headed niches: St Catherine of Alexandria in the middle (with the wheel), St Vincent (with the ship) and Anthony of Padua (with a lily). The latter two are the patrons of the city of Lisbon. Three tondos above them contain reliefs of the Annunciation (with a very fine landscape in the middle). The high pedestal is decorated with the coats-of-arms of Cardinal Costa.
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