A mural painting and a carved door at Traquair House, Innerleithen

Abstract

It is now generally recognised that mural painting was a form of art extensively practised in medieval Britain. Broadly speaking, its use in churches, both as a medium for instruction and as a decoration, went out with the Reformation; but it continued to be employed in secular buildings until superseded by other types of wall-covering such as tapestry, panelling, and finally wall-paper. There are very few surviving examples in Scotland. The mural at Traquair House is in a room which can be assigned to the second half of the sixteenth century, and its superstructure was remodelled in the seventeenth century. The surviving elements of the mural are described in detail. The oak door in the same room as the mural was carved by the person who created the Amisfield Door which dates from 1600 and bears a representation of Samson in contemporary costume slaying the lion.