Join us for the one and only chance to get a close-up view of the new Stirling Heads – before they are fixed to the palace ceiling and painted. From Saturday 13 to Sunday 21 February, the 37 heads which will decorate the King’s Inner Hall will be exhibited in the Great Hall. These beautifully hand-crafted oak medallions, each around a metre across, are replicas of the original Stirling Heads, which are such a precious part of our heritage that they have been referred to as Scotland’s other crown jewels.

There will also be a chance to meet John Donaldson, the local master craftsman who devoted five years of his life to carving the new set, and to see him at work. The heads will still be in their natural state, but a few weeks later they are due to be attached to the palace ceiling and painted in bright colours – in keeping with mid-16th century style.

              

Mr Donaldson said: “It will be tremendous to have the 37 heads on show all in one place before they are finally attached to the ceiling. I am really looking forward to seeing them all laid out together in the Great Hall, it should be quite an impressive sight. There has been a great deal of interest in how they were made, so I’m really pleased to be able to do some workshops and show people some of the wood carver’s craft.”

The display will mark an important milestone as the ceiling of the King’s Presence Hall was one of the most spectacular features of the palace. The recreation of the ceiling is one of the most important parts of the project and will help create a real “wow” factor for visitors when the palace reopens in 2011.

Before this exhibition the largest number which had been on show at the same time was a selection of 12 which were displayed for one day at a special event to mark the completion of the carving. Thirty six of the heads are copies of originals and include what has become known as The Musical Head, because it is believed to have Scotland’s earliest “written” harp music carved round the edge. The final one – which has not previously been seen in public – was inspired by a statue on the outside of the palace.

Who and what the heads depict is not always clear. Art historian Dr Sally Rush was commissioned by Historic Scotland to help discover more. She dug deep into the arts, crafts, fashions, politics and iconography of Renaissance Europe to gather evidence. We now understand the Stirling Heads far better than before. Some identifications are firm, others tentative, and often it is still too early to put names to faces. But one thing is certain, the heads hold many more secrets and will be the subject of academic debate for generations to come. Listed below are some of Dr Rush’s possible identifications:

The Nine Worthies were characters from the pagan, Christian and Jewish Classical worlds who exemplified important qualities.