The Unicorn in Captivity

Art History

1400-1500 Renaissance in Italy and the North

Flanders

Campin, Merode Altarpiece
Campin, Christ and the Virgin
Hubert (?) and Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (closed) or The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
Hubert (?) and Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (open) or The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
Jan van Eyck, Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife
Jan van Eyck's The Madonna in the Church
Christus, Portrait of a Young Girl
Christus, Portrait of a Carthusian
Van der Goes, The Adoration of the Kings
Van der Weyden, Deposition
Van der Weyden, Crucifixion Triptych
Van der Weyden, The Last Judgment Polyptych
Van der Weyden, Crucifixion, with the Virgin and Saint John
The Unicorn in Captivity

The Unicorn in Captivity The Unicorn in Captivity (one of seven woven hangings popularly known as the Unicorn Tapestries or the Hunt of the Unicorn), 1495-1505, South Netherlandish, wool, silk, silver, and gilt (The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

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The Unicorn in Captivity

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[music playing]
We're at the Cloisters, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
and we're looking at a breathtaking series of tapestries that date to about 1500,
give or take five years on either side.
We're looking specifically at what we think is
the last of the series of tapestries,
except that we're not even sure of that.
-We're sure of very little, except that
the tapestries are very popular.
-And gorgeous.
-And the unicorn is very popular, and much loved.
-So this is the unicorn in captivity.
There have been many, many theories
about the narrative, about the origin,
about the patron, about the source
of these tapestries, and we really know almost nothing.
-It's one of those things that happens sometimes in art history,
where we can find lots of clues,
and sometimes the clues don't add up.
-We do know we're looking at
this extraordinary tall representation of a unicorn,
captured in this circular fence that's so low,
we imagine - if we look at it literally -
-he could easily hop out.
-He could hop out. But he's chained
to a pomegranate tree, and I guess
it's probably worth noting that
although the pomegranate tree's fruit is identifiable,
the leaves are not what a pomegranate's leaves look like.
But, so much of the rest of the surface of the tapestry
is taken up by these careful botanical studies,
and I think that we've identified nearly everything,
in terms of what kinds of plants.
-The plant life is completely identifiable,
in a long tradition of Northern Renaissance painting
and manuscript illumination.
Very close attention to actual species of plants -
we see that in Northern Renaissance painting like van Eyck.
-But actually, it's more than that here,
because in this set of tapestries,
the plants that are in the meadows are, in fact,
the plants that one would find in the meadows.
The plants that are by the water
would be those that are water loving, et cetera.
The shade plants are in the forest.
And so there's a real attention to
that being important information to convey.
-But strangely, in this particular one,
and in one other from the series,
we're not in a real landscape at all.
We have a very flat background . . .
-Very abstract.
. . . formed by these very real plants.
So there's no hills, no landscapes,
no architecture in the background.
-Well, we are, after all, looking at a unicorn.
-We are! But in the other panels,
we do have figures, and castles,
and sky, and water, and other animals.
-So perhaps this is the most allegorical of all,
and I think there's a lot of attention
that has been paid to this particular tapestry
and what its meanings might be.
-Well, it doesn't quite fit, right?
Because the rest of the story tells us
of the successful hunt of a unicorn -
-And even the killing of the unicorn.
-Right. And so in this last, maybe last panel,
is this the resurrected unicorn?
Well, that's certainly one long tradition,
that the unicorn is an allegory of Christ.
-Right - a creature who is very pure-
and who can only be caught by a virgin.
-Who is symbolized, of course, as the Virgin Mary.
And so in medieval stories, medieval mythology,
the unicorn in a way comes to represent Christ,
and the virgin who can capture the unicorn is Mary.
-And so we've got that overlay,
but we've got some contradictions here also, right?
-We do, because in most of the series,
the unicorn is being hunted.
-And persecuted,
-And captured.
-But that works, you know, we have the Roman soldiers
persecuting Christ, we have the . . .
-Right, there are allegories there, parallels there.
. . . we have the hunt here, and so that works.
But here, we have the pomegranate tree,
which is a traditional symbol of fertility.
-And marriage.
-The idea of the golden chain, often representing marriage.
-You know, maybe the unicorn is the betrothed.
-So, is there a kind of eliding of symbol here?
Is there a kind of overlay of narratives?
-It seems like there are two traditions coming together.
A tradition where the unicorn is Christ,
and this is interpreted in a very Christian context,
and then a very secular context
of the unicorn as the beloved,
who is happy to be captured.
So, it's sort of one of those things where it's got so much meaning,
and it may be that it's a twenty-first century search for "the meaning,"
but maybe it never had one meaning.
Maybe its meaning was always multifarious.
-And perhaps open. I think that that's right.
Of course, it would help enormously if we knew the occasion,
and the patrons for which this was made.
-Perhaps a wedding. Who knows?
-There is an A, and there's a backward E
in each of the panels, each of the tapestries.
There's been much scholarly disagreement as to who those are for.
The tapestries themselves are gloriously rich,
brightly colored; and in fact,
in a recent restoration, the backing was taken off,
and much of the richness of the color
was photographed, and it's really breathtaking.
Even the front of the tapestries are just glorious.
-And of course, tapestries would have been hung
in a room that was dark, like this one that we're in,
and would've served as a way of insulating the room
and keeping the warmth in.
-Yes, they were quite practical.
-But it's important to go up and look closely,
because when you look at the flowers and the animals
and really try to decode the narrative,
there's a real richness that unfolds that is . . .
-Just the sensuality of the surface!
I think that that's absolutely right.
And this is not only dyed wool, but it's also silk.
And I think it's interesting,
this idea of this creature that's imaginary,
that's pure, that can't be caught, you know,
we can't see it, we can't find it . . .
-And maybe even our modern understanding.

Learn more about this work of art in context at smarthistory.khanacademy.org

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