Abstract
The murals painted by Phoebe Anna Traquair (1856-1936) in the Catholic Apostolic Church of Edinburgh over a period of eight years from 1893 to 1901 are Traquair’s addition to the artistic movements of her time, drawing on the Arts and Crafts and Pre-Raphaelite interest in the Middle Ages and her own individual studies. Combining original source and the interpretations themselves, Traquair created a decorative program that worked within the Catholic Apostolic tradition, one unique in nineteenth century international movements. As she worked within it, she moved from compositions that directly mirror prescriptive structures to compositions that support the overall message of the Church’s mission, drawing on her own sources of inspiration.