Meticulous work comes to a head

THEIR watchful gaze took in the comings and goings of the Scottish royal court, each a silent witness to historic events as well as mundane 16th century life.

Kings and queens, lords and ladies of high rank and status shared common ground - albeit high above, on the ceiling - with the royal family's courtiers, loyal subjects and even one very cheeky jester.

The Stirling Heads, as they became known, were a dazzling collection of vividly painted oak figures representing the Scottish royal family of the day, their ancestors, key figures in their court and the historic heroes with whom they wanted to be associated, each positioned across the ceilings of the palace's most important rooms.

Sadly, as years passed, not everyone appreciated their uniqueness and value. They were ripped down in 1777, some to be destroyed, others lost.

But now, nearly 500 years since they were first unveiled, the striking Stirling Heads have returned, carefully recreated by Livingston master carver John Donaldson and a team of Leith-based artists led by Graciela Ainsworth.

Today they were finally unveiled on the ceilings of Stirling Castle, a key element of a 12 million project to return it to how it would have looked when Scots royals ruled over a nation emerging from the hardships of medieval times to a new, modern era.

It has taken six years to recreate the 37 stunning oak medallions - each a metre wide - most of which have been painstakingly copied from the surviving heads. Each took John, a former PE teacher, around a month to complete.

But where the real thing did not fully exist, John admits he had to bring some artistic licence into play.

"I came up with a design for the 37th head," explains John. "It was made from a fragment of a border from one that was lost and then I selected some details from stonework sculptures at the external faade of the palace and changed the pose to suit the heads.

"Then I was a little bit cheeky," he grins. "I used my daughter, Fiona's face. So now she is immortalised on the ceiling alongside royalty and famous figures."

Not that he's been the first to do that. For when John looked at the sketches of two roundels destroyed in a blaze at Dunstaffnage Castle, he realised their features were Victorian representations and at odds with the style of the originals.

"One was clearly a Victorian woman's face, not like the others at all. I had the option of carving the features of a young Victorian woman or changing it back to a 16th century face. It made more sense to make her 16th century, so I used my other daughter, Mhairi."

The original Stirling Heads were commissioned by newly-wed King James V in around 1540 as part of his scheme to build a new palace to celebrate his marriage to Mary of Guise.

He probably didn't live long enough to enjoy them though, as he died aged just 39 in December 1542 when the building was still being finished, leaving his widow with a baby girl less than a week old. The following year Mary of Guise and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived at Stirling which became their main residence until the Little Queen was sent to the French court to keep her safe from the English in 1548.

Who created the original ceiling images remains a mystery, but John believes there were various artists at work.

"On one there was a very odd pattern of ones and zeroes that I couldn't understand because it seemed so higgledy piggledy," he recalls. "It baffled me for four years until I watched a documentary which mentioned that medieval harp music was written in binary numbers - ones and zeroes."

Once he had completed his task, each oak roundel was positioned on the ceiling in a sequence meticulously planned by Historic Scotland researchers to reflect Renaissance taste.

Only then was artist Graciela and her Bonnington Mill-based team able to begin the physically demanding task of painting them. "It would have been much easier to paint them upright on an easel, but having them on the ceiling meant we could see how the paint was standing out," she explains.

"Even if you paint something that is three dimensional it can became very flat and we wanted to draw out John's carving.

"The hardest one was the 'Noblewoman in Masking Costume', which has all these tiny pinholes in the drapery."

Although the task was, literally, a pain in the neck, Graciela says the end result has been worth the effort.

"There's nothing quite like the Stirling Heads anywhere in the world," she says. "It's fantastic to be involved."

• The palace with the new Stirling Heads ceiling is due to open to the public this summer. For further details go to www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk

RETURN TO ITS FORMER GLORY

THE Stirling Heads project is part of a 12 million revamp of the Stirling Castle palace, in which six ground-floor apartments are being returned to their Renaissance glory.

It will include a new gallery to showcase the original Stirling Heads in a strictly-controlled environment to protect them for future generations.

In addition to the replica heads carved for the ceiling, several extras were made for education and display.

Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Culture and External Affairs, says the heads provide a stunning addition to the historic castle, and Peter Buchanan, the project manager, says the unveiling of the ceiling brings a 'wow' factor to the ancient monument.

He says: "We've been looking forward to this for a long time."