CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that wall paintings dated to the early sixteenth century were discovered during restoration work in a roof space at Christ’s College, Cambridge. The images cover a 20-foot-wide space, and are thought to have decorated the school’s original library. The paintings include a red Lancastrian rose, a portcullis, and a possible fleur-de-lis. In 1505, Lady Margaret Beaufort, a member of the House of Lancaster, became the college’s patron. Her son, Henry VII, became the first Tudor king of England in 1485 after his victory over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and the end of the Wars of the Roses. The portcullis is the badge of the Beaufort family. “A powerful and pious woman, with a keen interest in scholarship, Lady Margaret left her indelible mark on the college,” commented art historian Christina Faraday of Cambridge University. “The motifs continue to be tied up with the college’s identity to this day,” she added. The paintings will receive some basic restoration work before they are recovered. For more on the Battle of Bosworth Field and Henry's accession to the throne, go to "The Rehabilitation of Richard III."
