Mary is wringing her hands in despair at the death of her son, to the left of what was the Crucifixion. The artist spared no expense on Mary’s halo, which is made of real gold leaf! All around her in the background you can see a diamond-shaped pattern of birds with lilies and lion motifs in the centre. The birds are parakeets, known as ‘popinjays’.  The lilies, or ‘fleurs-de-lys’ of France are combined with the Lions of England (you can see one at the very top of the painting, above St. John the Baptist). These two heraldic symbols started to appear together regularly after 1340, when Edward III adopted the fleurs-de-lys as part of the Arms of England. The green and gold background painting is based on fourteenth century Italian silk textile designs. Although the wall painting is a very expensive one, it was still cheaper than paying for real tapestries or embroideries with gold and silver thread.