Crathes painted ceilings project: delicate work progressing

Our earlier article explored the techniques involved in the original 16th- and 17th-century ceiling decoration, as well as various well-intended ‘conservation’ works since the Victorian era.

This update now examines the two rooms completed so far by Karen Dundas and her expert paint conservation team.

The Stair Chamber

Karen and her colleagues began the conservation project in the smallest of the four rooms. Working at height and in tight confines was a challenge in itself – but they maintained access throughout and enjoyed speaking with visitors. Often, remedial specialist conservation cannot take place in front of the public as it is sent to the conservators’ studio, due to not having suitable facilities on site to complete the works. (Of course, preventive conservation occurs daily via the Collections Care staff at each place.) In other cases, where collections are part of the heritage building, we have to complete the work in situ, but due to chemicals being used and access through rooms, we can’t complete this work in front of the public. However, in this instance the property set-up and the materials Karen has used mean that we’ve been lucky enough to complete the work during the summer, allowing visitors to see this work.

The Stair Chamber was once known as the White Bathroom in Crathes Castle. It is a small, white-painted room, accessed by a narrow stairway between two floors. The timber ceiling beams are illustrated with biblical text, and small patches of the original frieze remain. Unlike the rest of the castle, the beam decoration here was saved from the enthusiastic Victorian paintbrush, as it was protected by lathe and plaster until it was uncovered and conserved in the 1980s.

‘Why did they paint their ceilings so boldly?’ is one of the most common questions asked of Karen and our guides. Although there are many studies on this, and much debate around the vibrancy of the pigments, Karen says that we should try to imagine how the castle would originally have looked and felt – without the bright contrasting white walls – and with only candlelight illuminating the gloom in long dark winters. Décor on the ceilings and upper walls would have accompanied practical and attractive wall-hanging tapestries, which would have conveyed the owners’ values to their guests. The original owners wished to convey the impression that they were both morally and intellectually superior to the ‘masses’ in their choice of particular biblical and mythical texts.

We have used consolidation techniques that preserve and bring out the features of the original decoration. In the Stair Chamber, delicate blues are now visibly bolder and the yellows more vibrant. Karen also points out the crisper detail and shades on the frieze, hinting at how the Victorian overpaint flattened the three-dimensional qualities of the original.

Due to technical analysis carried out, the team are also delighted to have potentially located certain pigments previously hinted at in a 1959 analysis.