It was quite a moment when reporters, film crews and photographers were ushered in to see the recreation of a lost Scottish masterpiece. The ceiling of the King’s Inner Hall, inside the castle’s royal palace, had once been adorned with superb carved wooden medallions depicting kings, queens, emperors, Classical heroes and many others. But they were removed in 1777 and ended up scattered round Britain – or destroyed.

As part of the £12 million project to return the palace to how it may have looked when it was new, in the mid 16th century, Historic Scotland decided to recreate the ceiling. This has taken six years of work – five for new versions of the heads to be carved and the rest to create the ceiling and to carry out the superbly detailed painting. The carving was carried out by master craftsman John Donaldson, from Livingston, and the painting by a team led by Leith-based conservation expert Graciela Ainsworth.

The recreated ceiling has 37 heads, of which 34 are copied from surviving originals. Two were destroyed by fire in the mid-20th century and new versions were made from pictures. The last was inspired by statues on the outside of the palace – but has the face of the carver’s daughter Fiona.

The recent unveiling of the ceiling attracted nationwide media attention. But the story has another stage to go. The surviving heads are now being brought back together and put on display in a specially created gallery on the upper floor of the palace. This means visitors will be able to get closer to these wonderful pieces of art and craftsmanship than ever before.

A further exciting development has been the appointment of Crieff-based Anna Visscher Ltd to provide costumed characters to guide visitors round the palace. They will take on the roles of nobles, ladies in waiting, court officials, bodyguards and servants to give an idea of what it was like to live and work in the palace and castle. Many of the new team have extensive experience as stewards at Stirling and Edinburgh castles, or other major heritage attractions. Their job will be to help bring the past to life in a way that is both informative and fun.