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The ceiling of St Mary’s Church in Grantully, Perthshire, is intricately painted with coats of arms, images of saints, and proverbs, with a central panel depicting what is thought to be the Last Judgement – all in a typical Scottish Renaissance style. Commissioned by Sir William Stewart and Dame Agnes Moncrieff in the 1600s, the ceiling is now the responsibility of Historic Environment Scotland (HES), whose predecessors took ownership of the church in 1944. At that time, the ceiling and roof were in poor condition, and everything had to be treated repeatedly for insect damage and timber rot. Since then, to maintain the ceiling for as long as possible, it has been surveyed every five years. After last year’s survey, it was deemed necessary to conserve the ceiling again by fixing paint into place and cleaning loose dirt and debris.
This work was recently carried out by Ailsa Murray, Painting Conservator at HES, and Briege Thomas, Paintings Conservation Trainee. Commenting on the opportunity to work on the ceiling as part of her training, Briege said: ‘When you’re up on the scaffold, you can see all the fine details which aren’t visible from the ground. At that distance, I could really see the brushstrokes of the original paint as well as the different campaigns of restoration the ceiling has undergone over its long history. It was fascinating to be able to connect the original artist, the conservators who carried out work over the years, and the work we were doing as one long living history of the ceiling and the church itself.’
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Image: Historic Environment Scotland
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