16th-century Wall-Painting from Thame, Oxfordshire

The wall-painting from Thame is one of the best-preserved compositions of a number of wall-paintings of the Renaissance period that have been found in Oxfordshire, and especially in Oxford, where elaborate wall-paintings may be seen in the Golden Cross Inn in Cornmarket Street and also next door at the old Crown Inn (part of this latter painting is displayed in the Museum of Oxford).

The compositions of many of the paintings, including this one, reflect the elaborately designed title pages of printed books. This was the time of the growth of printing, and the University at Oxford would have been a magnet for European editions; the Thame painting reminds us of bookplates from Flemish lands.