Cambridge college wall paintings

As part of renovation work at Christ’s College in Cambridge three heraldic wall paintings from the time of the refoundation of the college at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the formidable Lady Margaret Beaufort have been discovered. They have not been seen, it is thought, since 1738 and of an imperial crown, a red rose, and, apparently, a fleur de lys.

These are all eminently appropriate in a college founded by the King’s Mother. The red rose was a badge not so much of the main line of the Lancastrian kings but rather of their cadet branch the Beauforts. In portraits King Henry VII is sometimes shown holding a red rose to complement the white one of his Yorkist Queen. The two flower badges were not, it would appear, combined until the accession of King Henry VIII, in whose veins flowed the blood of both these branches of the Plantagenets.

The paintings are described and illustrated in a post from BBC News at Medieval paintings uncovered by builders

Yahoo News also has a similar article at Rare medieval wall paintings found at Cambridge University by builders