Date completed : 20 July 2018 Duration : 12 Weeks
Karen Dundas

The King’s Chamber tempera painted timber ceiling and surviving frieze fragments had been restored upon discovery in the early 1960s. Following that, the room had been used as an office.

During recent treatment, SWPC gently cleaned the ceiling to remove surface soiling and consolidated flaking and powdery paint. Previous restoration work (e.g. installation of light fixtures and application of brown paint to bare timbers), was removed. Holes in ceiling boards were filled and inpainted to reintegrate the decoration. Fragile frieze fragments were cleaned,  consolidated and carefully stored. Frieze decoration was then reconstructed based upon archival photographs and the surviving fragments.

In addition to decoration in The King’s Chamber, three badly fire-damaged painted ceilings were discovered hidden behind false plaster ceilings during building works. Two of these ceilings were cleaned and stabilised and are now on display; the third ceiling remains safely hidden behind a significant 17th-century ornamental plaster ceiling

Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)
Scottish Renaissance painted decoration – Riddle’s Court (Royal Mile, Edinburgh)

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