The Elusive Unicorn
In Western culture, the first reference to an animal with a single horn can be traced to an account of a Greek traveler in India in 400 B.C. Medieval peoples believed unicorns were real, albeit elusive creatures, and that their horns had magical, protective properties. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, unicorns were plentiful in the arts. Specimens were resplendent in paintings, frescos, prints, tapestries, jewelry, and illuminated manuscripts.
Claimed proof of the existence of these beasts came from horns, which were hotly traded commodities. “Unicorn horns” were prized and preserved in churches as well as princely and aristocratic collections. These horns were narwhal tusks, not unicorn horns. Narwhals are marine mammals that inhabit Arctic coastal waters. One of their two teeth grows through their upper lip into a massive spiral tusk. Interestingly, during antiquity and the early Middle Ages, unicorns were depicted in the arts with a straight, smooth horn. The stylized image of a spiral horn, as seen in “The Lady and the Unicorn,” came about once Scandinavian sailors started trading narwhal tusks.
‘Mona Lisa of the Middle Ages’
“The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestries were woven around 1500. They may have been made in Flanders, an area that produced some of the age’s finest tapestries, but this is just one of many particulars that continue to be debated and researched. The first documentation of the tapestries can be traced to an 1814 description of the Château de Boussac in Central France. Twenty-seven years later, the French writer, historian, archeologist, and author of the novella “Carmen,” Prosper Mérimée, discovered the artworks there. He was entranced by their splendor but greatly concerned about their location, which exposed them to damp and rats. This neglect was damaging the works and, in addition, people were apparently mutilating them to make rugs and cart covers. Mérimée wrote to a French politician urging that they be removed. In 1882, the Musée de Cluny acquired the artworks for 25,500 francs.These tapestries are frequently described as the “Mona Lisa of the Middle Ages” and “a national treasure of France.” They have become famous in part due to their reference in literature. The textiles were mentioned in novels by major historic authors, including George Sand’s “Jeanne” and Rainer Maria Rilke’s “The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge.” Even today, the tapestries are featured in novels and film.
A general consensus on the tapestries’ narrative meaning was not reached until 1921. Art historians believe that the tapestries are individual representations of the senses, with iconography for allegories of touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight (medieval texts codified the senses in this hierarchy) visible in the respective tapestries. Thus, the final tapestry represents a “sixth sense,” a term that features in today’s lexicon, but dates actually to the Middle Ages.
Each tapestry includes a blonde maiden with a lion to her right and a unicorn to her left. Four of the six tapestries also include a lady-in-waiting. These animals wear or bear a red coat of arms with three silver crescent moons on a blue band. This heraldry has been connected by historians to the noble Le Viste family of Lyon, France. Curators believe a member of the family commissioned the tapestries, but the specific identity of the person remains unclear.
The main tapestry figures are placed centrally in the composition on a floating island of blue against a red background. Throughout both of these areas, the decorative style known as “millefleurs” or “thousand flowers” is showcased to dazzling effect. Dozens of flowers and trees can be identified, including bluebells, carnations, daffodil, daisy, lily of the valley, marigold, pansy, violets, hollies, oaks, orange trees, and pines. Furthermore, there is a menagerie of smaller animals: birds, such as falcons, herons, magpies, parrot, and partridge, along with cheetahs, dogs, lambs, leopards, monkeys, foxes, and rabbits.
It remains to be clarified where the tapestries were woven in Western Europe, but it is likely that the designs were drawn in Paris. Based on their imagery, curators have connected them to the work of an artist known as the Master of Anne de Bretagne, who was perhaps Jean d’Ypres. He is famous for the magnificent devotional book “Très Petites Heures,” made for Anne of Brittany, a French queen.
Representing the Senses
In the tapestry “Touch,” the young woman has flowing hair underneath a diadem. Her dark blue velvet gown is lined with ermine, a fur associated with royalty, and edged with orphreys, an ornamental embroidered border that in this case is adorned with gold and gems. The theme of touch is made apparent by the two things she holds: In her right hand is a pennant, while her left hand grasps gently the unicorn’s horn. Unicorns were often allegorical figures in stories of courtly love, so a reading of this scene could be that the maiden has caught and tamed the animal, a stand-in for a lover. The collared, captive animals in the tapestry’s background reinforce this idea.
In “Taste,” the lady, whose veil flutters as if from a breeze, elegantly plucks a sweet from a dish held by the female attendant. She is going to feed the morsel, likely similar to a Jordan almond, to the parrot perched on her hand. Mirroring this action is the monkey at the base of the island eating a piece of fruit. At the back of the island is a trellis festooned with roses. This references the concept of “hortus conclusus,” translated as enclosed garden, a popular motif in courtly love depictions. Another symbol associated with this narrative and the hunt of the unicorn is the pomegranate, which can be found on the pendants of the lady’s belt.
Music rings out in “Hearing.” The maiden is playing a prized medieval portative organ (physical examples from the period have not survived) that is set with jewels. The companion operates the organ’s bellows. The scene is a sumptuous feast of textiles. The organ is on an oriental rug. The lady wears a pomegranate-patterned dress that was the height of early 16th-century Italian fashion. Indeed, all of her clothes and jewels in the tapestries are demonstrative of aristocratic luxury of the period. In “Hearing,” the maiden displays yet another headpiece, a plumed one known as an aigrette.
The lady wears an aigrette again in “Sight.” In this tapestry, she is seated with the unicorn partially on her lap, emblematic of aspects of courtly love. Petting the unicorn with her left hand, the other holds a gold and gem mirror up to the unicorn, a luxury item from the era. The background animals of a dog, lion cub, and rabbit participate in a looking game of glances.
The enigmatic sixth tapestry is known as “A mon seul désir,” which translates as “To my only desire” and suggests a courtly love interpretation. The tapestry’s title derives from this motto, which is written on the top of the luxurious tent in the background. The lady is presented by the attendant with a jewel casket with metal fittings. She clasps a necklace similar to the one she wears in “Taste.” This has led to scholars questioning whether she is picking up the jewel to wear or is returning it to the box. If the latter, is she renouncing worldly pleasures and the sensory materials of the previous tapestries? There are numerous theories as to the meaning of the sixth sense, including free will. The prevailing assessment is that it refers to an interior sensory experience, one close to the soul—the heart.
The “The Lady and the Unicorn” series is one of the greatest artworks produced in Europe during the Middle Ages. The gifted weavers who made them likely spent several years on the project, and the expense would have been enormous. These artworks continue to be treasured for their mystery and aesthetic achievement. They emit an aura of serenity with their compositional balance and harmonious colors that transfixes the viewer in awe.
