Painted ceiling beam on the first floor of the Byward Tower in the Tower of London

In the 14th century, the Byward Tower was occupied by the King's Exchange, part of the Royal Mint, and suitably decorated as a high status chamber of the royal household: the green background populated by golden parakeets, fleur-de-lis and lions, is meant to resemble a woven silk hanging; this decoration also appears on a roof beam in the same room. The choice of design may also have had specific meaning in this location: just as St Michael weighs the souls of the dead at the Last Judgment in Christian theology, then royal servants are reminded to go about their business weighing real gold and coins with due honesty.