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King's Tent Inspires Ceiling
It sounds a little unlikely, but a tent is being used as the inspiration for a Renaissance-style ceiling in the castle’s royal palace.
We are not talking about the kind of thing you use for a weekend among the Highland midges, but a banqueting tent fit for a king – Henry VIII to be exact. In a quirky survival of history, sections of canvas, beautifully painted with heraldic designs as well as human and animal figures, have been preserved at Loseley Park, in Surrey. Indeed the More family, which thrived under the Tudors, valued them so highly they incorporated them in the wood panelling of a room of their stately home.
Members of the team working on the £12 million refurbishment of Stirling’s royal palace recently went south to study the panels, as they are fine examples of the decorative motifs and styles that were popular with Renaissance royalty. Some of the designs are now being adapted for use in painting the ceiling of the King’s Bedchamber at Stirling.
Vajira Premadasa, Historic Scotland project architect, said: “We were surprised to see how fresh, colourful and vibrant the panels were after 500 years. It was great to be able to study them because they show the sort of art that kings were surrounding themselves with at the time the palace was built. “Our aim is to ensure that everything in the palace is in keeping with what James V would have commissioned for himself. Being able to adapt designs that were created for his Uncle Henry help us achieve that all-important authenticity.”
Find out more about Loseley Park, Guildford
Read more on the Palace Project
We are not talking about the kind of thing you use for a weekend among the Highland midges, but a banqueting tent fit for a king – Henry VIII to be exact. In a quirky survival of history, sections of canvas, beautifully painted with heraldic designs as well as human and animal figures, have been preserved at Loseley Park, in Surrey. Indeed the More family, which thrived under the Tudors, valued them so highly they incorporated them in the wood panelling of a room of their stately home.
Members of the team working on the £12 million refurbishment of Stirling’s royal palace recently went south to study the panels, as they are fine examples of the decorative motifs and styles that were popular with Renaissance royalty. Some of the designs are now being adapted for use in painting the ceiling of the King’s Bedchamber at Stirling.
Vajira Premadasa, Historic Scotland project architect, said: “We were surprised to see how fresh, colourful and vibrant the panels were after 500 years. It was great to be able to study them because they show the sort of art that kings were surrounding themselves with at the time the palace was built. “Our aim is to ensure that everything in the palace is in keeping with what James V would have commissioned for himself. Being able to adapt designs that were created for his Uncle Henry help us achieve that all-important authenticity.”
Find out more about Loseley Park, Guildford
Read more on the Palace Project
