Traquair House, 2nd. floor, 'Museum' room, animal fresco, detail of camel. Digital image of D 59951 CN.

Description Traquair House, 2nd. floor, 'Museum' room, animal fresco, detail of camel. Digital image of D 59951 CN.

Date 11/10/1999

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 759987

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 59951 CN

Scope and Content Painted running camel on fresco in the museum, Traquair House, Scottish Borders This shows part of a late 16th-/early 17th-century fresco (painted wall decoration applied to wet plaster) in what is now the castle museum. It depicts a running bactrian (two-humped) camel against a background of vines, one of which supports an eagle (right). Biblical texts from Acts, I, 14-17 are painted along the top and bottom of the painting. These mural paintings were discovered in 1880, and may have continued around the whole room. The biblical texts are taken from the Geneva version of the bible, which was first published in 1560. The all-over pattern of the vine with animals running through it is very similar to needlework designs of the 1700s. Traquair is the oldest continually inhabited house in Scotland, with its origins in the 10th century. It was the site of a royal hunting lodge in the 1200s, but the house as seen today is based around a c.1512 tower-house with many later additions. The flanking service wings were built in 1695 to designs by architect James Smith (c.1645-1731), who also designed the wrought-iron screens round the courtyard in 1698. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/759987

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap