Researchers are working to uncover the mysteries of 33 wood carved medallions which would have decorated the Royal Palace at Stirling Castle.

Historic Scotland is trying to find out why the works, known as the Stirling Heads and carved between 1530 and 1544, were created and whom they depict.

… The research is part of £12m plans to refurbish Stirling’s Royal Palace. Historians are in the process of restoring the palace to how it would have looked in the 1540s and creating a new gallery where a replica set of heads will go on display.

…Dr Sally Rush, a senior lecturer from Glasgow University’s history of art department, suspects that they feature the faces of Scottish royals taken from official portraits belonging to James V and other family members.

She said: “Had you walked into the King’s Presence Chamber when the ceiling was complete I think you would have seen a whole sequence of Stewart kings, from James I to V.

“It was a statement by James V to say that his dynasty went back a long way in an unbroken line and had the inalienable right to rule over Scotland.

“The presence of Henry VIII and Margaret Tudor, mother of James V, is a reminder of his claim to the English throne.

“One of the heads which was destroyed by fire, but of which we have a sketch, may have shown Henry VIII, complete with English lion, face-on in the style developed specifically for his portraits by Hans Holbein.”

(BBC News)