Unicorn Tapestries
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''The Unicorn Tapestries'' or the ''Hunt of the Unicorn'' (french: La Chasse à la licorne) is a series of seven tapestries made in the South Netherlands around 1495–1505, and now in The Cloisters in New York. They were possibly designed in Paris and show a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a
unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
through an idealised French landscape. The tapestries were woven in wool, metallic threads, and silk. The vibrant colours, still evident today, were produced from dye plants: weld (yellow),
madder ''Rubia'' is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains coffee. It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World. The genus and its best-known spe ...
(red), and
woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...
(blue). First recorded in 1680 in the Paris home of the Rochefoucauld family, the tapestries were looted during the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. Rediscovered in a barn in the 1850s, they were hung at the family's
Château de Verteuil The Château de Verteuil is a historic building in Charente, France. It dates back to 1080 and has since been extensively rebuilt, although 12th-century walls remain. The château has always been in the property of the La Rochefoucauld family. ...
. Since then they have been the subject of intense scholarly debate about the meaning of their iconography, the identity of the artists who designed them, and the sequence in which they were meant to be hung. Although various theories have been put forward, as yet nothing is known of their early history or provenance, and their dramatic but conflicting narratives have inspired multiple readings, from chivalric to Christological. Variations in size, style, and composition suggest they come from more than one set, linked by their subject matter, provenance, and the mysterious AE monogram which appears in each. One of the panels, "The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn", survives as just two fragments.


History


Construction

Questions about the original workmanship of the tapestries remain unanswered. The design of the tapestries is rich in figurative elements similar to those found in oil painting. Apparently influenced by the French style, the elements in the tapestries reflect the woodcuts and metalcuts made in Paris in the late fifteenth century. The garden backgrounds of the tapestries are rich in floral imagery, featuring the "
millefleur Millefleur, millefleurs or mille-fleur ( French mille-fleurs, literally "thousand flowers") refers to a background style of many different small flowers and plants, usually shown on a green ground, as though growing in grass. It is essentially re ...
s" background style of a variety of small botanic elements. Invented by the weavers of the Gothic age, it became popular during the late medieval era and declined after the early Renaissance. There are more than a hundred plants represented in the tapestries, scattered across the green backgrounds of the panels, eighty-five of which have been identified by botanists. The particular flowers featured in the tapestries reflect the tapestries' major themes. In the unicorn series, the hunt takes place within a ''
Hortus conclusus ''Hortus conclusus'' is a Latin term, meaning literally "enclosed garden". At their root, both of the words in ''hortus conclusus'' refer linguistically to enclosure. It describes a genre of garden that was enclosed as a practical concern, a majo ...
'', literally meaning "enclosed garden," which was not only a representation of a secular, physical garden, but a connection with the
Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...
. The tapestries were very probably woven in Brussels, which was an important center of the tapestry industry in medieval Europe. An example of the remarkable work of the Brussels looms, the tapestries' mixture of silk and metallic thread with wool gave them a fine quality and brilliant color. The wool was widely produced in the rural areas around Brussels, and a common primary material in tapestry weaving. The silk, however, was costly and hard to obtain, indicating the wealth and social status of the tapestry owner.


Provenance

The tapestries were owned by the La Rochefoucauld family of France for several centuries, with first mention of them showing up in the family's 1728 inventory. At that time five of the tapestries were hanging in a bedroom in the family's
Château de Verteuil, Charente A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
and two were stored in a hall adjacent to the chapel. The tapestries were highly believed woven for François, the son of Jean II de La Rochefoucauld and Marguerite de Barbezieux. And there was a possible connection between the letters A and E and the La Rochefoucauld, which are interpreted as the first and last of Antoine's name, who was the son of François, and his wife, Antoinette of Amboise. During the French Revolution the tapestries were looted from the château and reportedly were used to cover potatoes – a period during which they apparently sustained damage. By the end of the 1880s they were again in the possession of the family. A visitor to the château described them as quaint 15th century wall hangings, yet showing "incomparable freshness and grace". The same visitor records the set as consisting of seven pieces, though one was by that time in fragments and being used as bed curtains.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in ...
bought them in 1922 for about one million US dollars. Six of the tapestries hung in Rockefeller's house until The Cloisters was built when he donated them to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in 1938 and at the same time secured for the collection the two fragments the La Rochefauld family had retained. The set now hangs in The Cloisters which houses the museum's medieval collection.


Restoration

In 1998 the tapestries were cleaned and restored. In the process, the
linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
backing was removed, the tapestries were bathed in water, and it was discovered that the colours on the back were in even better condition than those on the front (which are also quite vivid). A series of high resolution
digital photograph Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is s ...
s were taken of both sides using a customised scanning device suspending a linear array scan camera and lighting over the delicate textile. The front and back of the tapestries were photographed in approximately three-by-three-foot square segments. The largest tapestry required up to 24 individual 5000 × 5000 pixel images. Merging the massive data stored in these photos required the efforts of two mathematicians, the Chudnovsky brothers.


Subjects

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which currently owns the tapestries, has titled and ordered them as follows: # "The Hunters Enter the Woods" # "The Unicorn Purifies Water" # "The Unicorn Crosses a Stream" # "The Unicorn Defends Himself" # "The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden" (two fragments) # "The Hunters Return to the Castle" # "The Unicorn Rests in a Garden" The tapestries comprise five large pieces, one small piece, and two fragments. The mobility associated with the size formed an essential consideration of the function of the tapestry in the medieval age. Different sizes of Gothic tapestries served as the decoration to fit chosen walls in the middle age. In modern-day research, based on the possibility that the unicorn tapestries were designed for use as a bedroom ensemble, the five large pieces fit the back area of a wall, while the other two pieces serve as the coverlet, or overhead canopy. Other sources give slightly different titles and different sequences. The sequence of the tapestries is based on three main factors. The first is construction of the tapestries themselves, which exhibit differences of manufacture and size, may suggest that the first and last are independent works or form a different series. Secondly is the story of the classic stag hunt, usually cited to ''Livre de la Chasse'' by Gaston III, Count of Foix. Thirdly is the established story of the unicorn hunt, where the unicorn is made docile by a virgin, and then captured, wounded or killed.


Analysis


Interpretation of themes

The entrapment of a unicorn by a virgin was a common theme in medieval folklore. Interpretations of the tapestries draw from analysis of this story. The tapestries have been interpreted as an allegory of Christ. In the medieval period, the unicorn was accepted as a symbol of Christ. Contemporary unicorn folklore stated that the unicorn could only be captured if led by a virgin maiden; several scholars have drawn a connection between this theme and the birth of Jesus by the Virgin Mary. The subsequent pursuit of the unicorn by the hunters, killing, and resurrection can be read as metaphors for the
arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...
,
crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
, and
resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
of Jesus Christ, respectively. The tapestries have also been interpreted as an allegory of marriage.
James Rorimer James Joseph Rorimer (September 7, 1905 – May 11, 1966), was an American museum curator and former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he was a primary force behind the creation of the Cloisters, a branch of the museum dedicated t ...
theorized that, as the designer of the tapestry has emphasized the secular nature of the unicorn hunt, rather than the Christian themes it represents, certain marriage-related symbols in the tapestries could suggest that the tapestries were created to celebrate a marriage. Margaret B. Freeman noted that medieval poets connected the taming of the unicorn to the devotion and subjugation of love. As such, Freeman equates the unicorn's seduction by a virgin and subsequent imprisonment to medieval notions of the lover held captive. Freeman has pointed out that these interpretations are not contradictory, and were likely intended to complement each other, as the concept of an overlapping God of Heaven and God of Love was accepted in the late Middle Ages.


Monogram and origin

James J. Rorimer speculated in 1942 that the tapestries were commissioned by
Anne of Brittany Anne of Brittany (; 25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France ...
, to celebrate her marriage to Louis XII, King of France in 1499. Rorimer interpreted the A and E monogram that appears in each tapestry as the first and the last letters of Anne's name. Margaret B. Freeman, however, rejected this interpretation in her 1976 monograph, a conclusion repeated by Adolph S. Cavallo in his 1998 work. Tom Campbell, former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acknowledged in 2002 that experts "still do not know for whom or where
he tapestries He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
were made."


The Stirling Tapestries

Historic Scotland commissioned a set of seven hand-made tapestries for
Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...
, a recreation of ''The Unicorn Tapestries'', as part of a project to furnish the castle as it was in the 16th century. It was part-funded by the Quinque Foundation of the United States. All seven currently hang in the Queen's Inner Hall in the Royal Palace. The tapestry project was managed by
West Dean College West Dean College of Arts and Conservation is situated in the West Dean Estate, of West Dean near Chichester. The Estate was formerly the home of the poet and patron of the arts Edward James. He was an avid admirer of the Surrealist movement, ...
in West Sussex and work began in January 2002. The weavers worked in two teams, one based at the college, the other in a purpose-built studio in the Nether Bailey of Stirling Castle. The first three tapestries were completed in Chichester, the remainder at Stirling Castle. Historians studying the reign of
James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...
believe that a similar series of "Unicorn" tapestries were part of the Scottish Royal tapestry collection. The team at West Dean Tapestry visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art to inspect the originals and researched the medieval techniques, the colour palette and materials. Traditional techniques and materials were used with mercerised cotton taking the place of silk to preserve its colour better. The wool was specially dyed at West Dean College.


In popular culture

* In 1961, Leonard Cohen published '' The Spice Box of Earth'', a collection of poems including "The Unicorn Tapestries". * The opening sequence of the 1982 animated movie '' The Last Unicorn'' was designed in reference to the tapestries, with many elements such as the fountain and lions, as well as the overall style being extremely similar. * The seventh tapestry in the series ("The Unicorn in Captivity") appears briefly in '' Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince'', adorning the wall of a corridor near the
Room of Requirement Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional Scottish boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series and serves as a m ...
and the tapestry is seen in the various common rooms (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff) with different coloured backgrounds. Also appears in the movie ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''. At Universal Studios in Los Angeles and Orlando replicas of this tapestry can be see adorning the wall in the queue for the Forbidden Journey ride which replicates the interior of the Hogwarts Castle. * It appears in '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' in the art room of the school. In the shot of MJ’s ( Zendaya) first appearance ''The Unicorn in Captivity'' can be spotted in the upper right corner. * It appears in Rumpelstiltskin's castle in ''
Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in the ...
''. * It appears in the episode "The Lich" in Season 4 of ''
Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
''. * It appears above Stewie's cot in the episode "Chap Stewie" of season 12 of ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
''. * It appears in
BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated Black comedy, black Comedy drama, comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F ...
in S2E2 * The tapestry "The Unicorn is Found" appears in one of the last scenes in the film '' Ghosts of Girlfriends Past''. * It appears in the 1988 film '' Some Girls''. * It appears in the 1993 film ''
The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels and ...
''. * In a French commercial for the cheese "Coeur de Lion", which means "Lionheart". Pub Coeur de Lion – Moyen Age. * A collage of the tapestry appears on the cover of the music album '' The Mask and Mirror'' by Canadian composer-musician Loreena McKennitt. * The tapestries'
millefleur Millefleur, millefleurs or mille-fleur ( French mille-fleurs, literally "thousand flowers") refers to a background style of many different small flowers and plants, usually shown on a green ground, as though growing in grass. It is essentially re ...
were adapted and redesigned by artist
Leon Coward Camerata Academica of the Antipodes is an Australian chamber orchestra and vocal ensemble formed in 2014. It was founded by three Coward siblings, Imogen, Taliésin and Leon, who are all multi-instrumentalists and composers, together with var ...
for the mural ''The Happy Garden of Life'' in the 2016 sci-fi movie '' 2BR02B: To Be or Naught to Be'' as part of the mural's religious allusions. The flowers are modeled on those in ''The Unicorn in Captivity''. * Elementary school readers of
Mary Pope Osborne Mary Pope Osborne (born May 20, 1949) is an American author of children's books. She is best known as the author of the ''Magic Tree House'' series, which sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, ...
's popular ''
Magic Tree House ''Magic Tree House'' is an American series of children's books written by the American author Mary Pope Osborne. The original American series was illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca until 2016, after which AG Ford took over . Other illustrators ...
'' series are introduced to the tapestries and the Cloisters Museum in ''Blizzard of the Blue Moon''. * The tapestries are the subject matter of
Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...
's short story "Tapestry," found in '' Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories''. * It appears in a seventh-season episode of ''
The Venture Brothers ''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on February 16, 20 ...
'', which is also named after the tapestry. * "The Unicorn in Captivity" is displayed in Sabrina's house in the 2018 TV series '' The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (best seen in episode 9). * "The Unicorn in Captivity" is displayed in Niles Caulder's house in the 2019 TV series ''
Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...
'' (best seen in episode 7). * The tapestries are mentioned in the 1982 novel ''
Annie on My Mind ''Annie on My Mind'' is a 1982 novel by Nancy Garden about the romantic relationship between two 17-year-old New York City girls, Annie and Liza. Characters Liza Winthrop: The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Liza is a 17-year-old girl li ...
'' in which the main characters see and discuss the tapestries while visiting The Cloisters Museum.


Gallery

File:The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries) MET DP118981.jpg, "The Hunters Enter the Woods" File:The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestry 1.jpg, "The Unicorn Purifies Water" File:The Unicorn is Attacked (from the Unicorn Tapestries) MET DP118985.jpg, "The Unicorn Crosses a Stream" File:The Unicorn Defends Itself (from the Unicorn Tapestries) MET DP118987.jpg, "The Unicorn Defends Himself" File:The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn (from the Unicorn Tapestries) MET DP155501.jpg, The two Fragments of "The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden" File:The Unicorn is Killed and Brought to the Castle (from the Unicorn Tapestries) MET DP118989.jpg, "The Hunters Return to the Castle" The Unicorn in Captivity - Google Art Project.jpg, "The Unicorn Rests in a Garden"


See also

* ''
The Lady and the Unicorn ''The Lady and the Unicorn'' (french: La Dame à la licorne) is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries created in the style of ("thousand flowers") and woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs (" cartoons") drawn in Par ...
'', another series of unicorn tapestries from the same period


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * *


Further reading

* *


External links


Unicorn tapestries
in the collection of the MET *
''The Hunt and The Cloisters, Temple of the Sun''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt of the Unicorn, The Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gothic art Tapestries Works about unicorns 1500s works 1490s works Animals in art Hunting in popular culture Dogs in art Deer in art Horses in art Hunting in art Birds in art Rabbits and hares in art