Madonna and Child

Our Doors open Day visits were a little time-restricted but we managed to include this, the Mortuary Chapel at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, whose walls were decorated by Phoebe Anna Traquair. 

The main part of this panel and certain others were transferred from the original Children's Hospital which had a lower ceiling. Phoebe herself supervised the relocation, repaired any damage and, to fill the resulting gap, painted the upper portion in similar style.

All the images relate to children, birth and death in a design decorative but sympathetic to the purpose of the building. The new Hospital is almost ready for occupation and thus there are now concerns for the future of these beautiful, unique murals. 

Our first venue was Abden House, built in 1855 for Thomas Nelson, founder of the Printing firm. Now occupied by Edinburgh University Chinese Confucius Institute, the many demonstrations of traditional writing, seal-making and origami were fascinating enough but I was taken by the wallpaper, which I thought may be hand-painted; a photo of a small section appears as an extra. Do look in large for exquisite detail.