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Europe 1300 - 1800
Course: Europe 1300 - 1800 > Unit 5
Lesson 13: Reliquaries and tapestriesThe Unicorn Tapestries
The Hunt for the Unicorn Tapestries, cartoons made in Paris, woven in the Southern Netherlands, c. 1495–1505, wool, silk, metal threads (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), including,
• The Hunters Enter the Woods, 368.3 x 315 cm
• The Unicorn Purifies Water, 368.3 x 378.5 cm
• The Unicorn Crosses a Stream, 368.3 x 426.7 cm
• The Unicorn Defends Himself, 368.3 x 401.3 cm
• The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden, 198.1 x 64.8 cm
• The Hunters Return to the Castle, 368.3 x 388.6 cm
• The Unicorn Rests in the Garden, 368 x 251.5 cm
. Created by Beth Harris, Steven Zucker, and Smarthistory.Want to join the conversation?
- Where did the belief in unicorns come from?(17 votes)
- The word unicorn means literally "one-horn". It comes from the Latin word unus
check out this website for more : https://dreamingunicorns.com.au(1 vote)
- There's been a lot of debate about which fruit, specifically, was the 'Forbidden Fruit' in the Garden of Eden, and pomegranate is one of the fore-running possibilities. Taking that into consideration, what else do you think the pomegranate tree might symbolize in the 'Unicorn as Christ' interpretation of the tapestry?(12 votes)
- I wonder whether the tree represents the Church. If the unicorn represents Christ and the chain (which is so thin the unicorn could easily break it if he desired, so he is possibly remains chained and within the low fence by choice) represents marriage, then we are reminded that the New Testament refers to Christ as the bridegroom and the Church (Christians) as the bride. Also, Jesus is referred to as "the new Adam" as His obedient sacrifice covers the original sin of Adam in the Garden. So the pomegranate tree might represent the "Tree of Life", but also the Church which is our source of life if we are all the "brides" of Christ. Just pondering....(7 votes)
- There are what seems to be red markings dripping down the unicorn in three places. Is this damage to the tapestry or fallen fruit from the tree?(8 votes)
- The red markings are blood dripping from wounds on the unicorn. The other tapestries depicting the hunt and capture of the unicorn show the hunters spearing it. This tapestry depicts the injured unicorn after its capture.(4 votes)
- why is the unicorn depicted as a goat as opposed to a horse?(5 votes)
- Because goats - and their relatives including various deer family members such as oryx and eland as well as the bovine aurochs, rhinos modern and ancient, and even narwhals - are actually horned animals and are the true sources of unicorn horns and most reported sightings. The association with horses most likely stemmed from descriptions by travelers unfamiliar with the large animals they viewed and perhaps trying to relate them to animals that they were familiar with (horses and asses).(5 votes)
- What if the artist was simply telling a story and we're just looking too deeply into it?(3 votes)
- A tapestry took hundreds and thousands of hours of work. In todays terms, they cost more than a small car. A small castle might have a couple of them.
With this level of cost and investment, art was almost never used for pure decoration, it almost always was used for more than one purpose. In this case, the tapestry is beautiful, it tells a story, it has spiritual implications, and (because it is wool and silk) it helps to keep the room warm (important in drafty old stone castles).(5 votes)
- How come the unicorn has a beard?(2 votes)
- Because it's a caprine, or goat-like unicorn. They weren't always horses.(3 votes)
- Are there any estimates for how long it would typically take to make tapestries like these? I don't know much of anything about tapestries, but it seems that making something like this would take an unbelievably long time. A tapestry is just a bunch of thread woven together, right?(2 votes)
- Yes indeed, it did take an unbelievably long time, eventhough thy would be working on these with a whole atelier (the ateliers of Brussels, in Belgium, for example of Pieter Coecke were worldfamous). This is the reason (in combination with the fact that they used precious gold- and silverthreads)
why for many centuries tapestry was the most expensive of all artforms, reserved to the great courts!(2 votes)
- I think it has shown up in many movies such as Harry Potter it has also shown up in TV show Once Upon A Time.(2 votes)
- It shows up so much because it is a very intriguing piece! :)(2 votes)
- is this piece painted or like sewn or something?(2 votes)
- It is a woven fabric.. Please note the description for the video:
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)(2 votes)
- They talk about the images being "allegorical". I looked this up and found that it means an extended metaphor, where characters or events symbolize ideas. Are they referring to the unicorn being a symbol of god? How is this different from a regular metaphor?(3 votes)
- it is not referencing to god and it is different because i honestly do not know...(0 votes)
Video transcript
(light music) - [Steven] We're in the the Cloisters, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in their wonderful
unicorn tapestries room. These were woven, we
think, at the very end of the 15th century or perhaps
in the early 16th century. And we know that because of the fashions that the figures wear. - [Beth] We also know
that they were designed and likely commissioned
by someone in France, but likely made in the city of Brussels, which was known for its tapestry weaving. - [Steven] These are so luxurious. - [Beth] We're looking at a
tapestry that was made for the highest levels of the elite of Europe. We can tell that by the
way that they're dressed in velvets and silks
with rich gold brocades. - [Steven] But we can also tell that by the fineness of the
tapestries themselves. Not only are extremely
expensive materials used including metallic threads,
silver and wool and silk, but this is weaving of
the highest quality. We have very little information
about who commissioned these or where they were
originally intended to be. - [Beth] We do though know that interest in the
mythical beast of the unicorn goes back to ancient Greece and Rome, that there are numerous illustrations of a woman with a unicorn
in the middle ages. - [Steven] And I think
it's important to remember that in the late 15th century Europe was still being
introduced to exotic animals. It was still seeing for the first time, new creatures from Asia and from Africa. And so the idea of a unicorn might not have seemed
entirely implausible. - [Beth] You could read about unicorns in medieval bestiaries, but
the basic story is this: That a unicorn was miraculous. It had healing powers, it
was very difficult to hunt and it could only be caught by a maiden, that is by a virgin. The unicorn is attracted to the maiden. It puts its head in her lap and
is then able to be captured. This story also accrued
religious meaning over time. So the unicorn is associated with Christ and the maiden who attracts it is associated with the Virgin Mary. - [Steven] We're not
entirely sure which order these tapestries should be viewed in, or indeed, if there is an order at all. - [Beth] But we're gonna follow the order that's currently accepted. And therefore, the first one is this scene of leaving for the hunt. - [Steven] This is an enormous textile and the figures are life size. We see these figures who
are very finely dressed. Even the dogs are wearing
elaborate collars. The men are speaking amongst themselves and taking the dogs out,
looking in various directions. But if you look at the upper right corner you can see that there's a boy gesturing, perhaps he's spied the unicorn and he's gesturing come this way. - [Beth] What we have here is a pattern known as mille-fleurs
or a thousand flowers, this dense design of foliage and flowers, so that there's no sky, there's no landscape
going back into space. And what we notice is
something that we see in virtually all the
tapestries in this cycle, the initials a and E tied
together with a rope. - [Steven] Art historians
have worked very hard to use those initials as identifiers for the person who commissioned these or for whom it was intended as a gift. But so far, we don't have much to stand on and there are a number
of conflicting theories. The second tapestry is
among the most elaborate. At its center is this
classicizing fountain and a unicorn kneels, placing his horn into a stream fed by the fountain. There's a menagerie of
animals and hunters. - [Beth] The unicorn's horn
is purifying the stream. This idea that the unicorn
had healing properties, especially in its horn. And we know that this water
is purified by the unicorn because of the flowers that grow up around the stream. - [Steven] We see this
amazing array of animals. There are lions, a leopard, perhaps a hyena and a large stag and then at the fountain
itself, two pairs of birds. But the upper half of the
tapestry is occupied by humans. Here we see the hunters, they
can't interrupt the unicorn because it is engaged in a miracle. - [Beth] And that was part of the myth, that when the unicorn was
doing something miraculous it could not be hunted. And one feels this arrested moment where the unicorn can't be approached. So all the figures are
talking and gesturing but nothing can actually be done. - [Steven] The next scene is
the largest of the tapestries. Here, the unicorn makes a mad
dash to escape the hunters but is surrounded. - [Beth] He dashes across
a stream, traced by dogs, completely surrounded by the
hunters who aim lances at him. - [Steven] This scene
contrasts with the previous which was quiet and still,
this image is all action. And it's not just the
hunters and the unicorn. - [Beth] If we look at
the bottom of the stream we can see animals who have clearly been disturbed by the
hunt that's taking place. - [Steven] These two tapestries present the landscape in a different way. They don't present
foliage from top to bottom but give us some sky, give
us a bit of a horizon line. - [Beth] And here in this fourth tapestry which the Met calls, "The
Unicorn Defends Itself" we once again see the unicorn
surrounded by hunters, but this time the unicorn
is attacking with its horn. It pierces a dog, and it lashes out toward a hunter with its hind quarters. We can also see that it's
been wounded in its side. And I think it would've been very natural for a medieval viewer
to look at that wound in the side of the unicorn, a creature which is
understood to be very pure, and think about the
wound in Christ's side, when he was crucified. - [Steven] Art historians
have been trying to untangle the relationship between
the narrative of the hunt and allusions to the passion of Christ. - [Beth] Well, we do know
that all these things were conflated together in the middle ages and in the Renaissance, love, the hunt, ideas of
chivalry and the unicorn. - [Steven] The next tapestry shows two scenes simultaneously. On the upper left is the
culmination of the hunt. The unicorn is slain. The dogs have reached the unicorn, two spears pierce it and a sword is cutting
at the back of its neck. And clearly this is the
end of the unicorn's life. - [Beth] We see the unicorn
being carried to a chateau on the back of a horse, its neck wreathed with
oak leaves and a couple with a crowd of people behind
them emerge from the chateau to come to receive the slain unicorn. - [Steven] This is one
of the most elaborate landscapes of the series. Not only is the chateau more elaborate than any of the architecture
we've seen thus far, the hill continues beyond that and we see yet another
castle in the distance. - [Beth] And here's where the narrative seems to get a little complicated. We have two surviving fragments. Here, we see the unicorn
enclosed in a garden. That idea of the enclosed garden is itself a symbol of virginity, often associated with the Virgin Mary - [Steven] These fragments
pose real problems to the linear narrative being told in the previous textiles. Here is a unicorn, but now
in the garden we see dogs, one of which seems attracted to the wounds on the animal's back. And then we see more dogs in the distance and two human figures. But if we look very closely you can see the sleeve
of yet another woman. And presumably this is
a maiden whose purity has attracted this unicorn. - [Beth] She has her arm around its mane and appears to be caressing it. So is this an alternate ending? One which show us an entrapped unicorn instead of a slain unicorn. Or is this a moment when
the unicorn is entrapped by the maiden and hunters will come, perhaps called by the man blowing the horn to slay the unicorn? - [Steven] The most famous tapestry in the collection stands alone. It shows the unicorn domesticated, with a collar around its neck
attached to a pomegranate tree by a delicate chain and
surrounded by a fence. And like the fragments that
we spoke of a moment before, this throws into question, the
linear narrative of the hunt and this tapestry is more
vertical in its orientation. So was this tapestry meant to stand alone? - [Beth] In the literature,
unicorns are often associated with someone who is so
over the top in love that they've given up everything, that they're completely subdued. And that seems to be the
case with the unicorn here. He's surrounded by a low fence. He could certainly leap over
that fence if he wanted to, but he is subdued, he's captive
to his love for the maiden. That's one interpretation here. - The unicorn stands directly
beneath a pomegranate tree, a traditional symbol of love
and matrimony and fertility. And so do two narratives
exist here simultaneously? - [Beth] And perhaps all
of these associations to Christ, to the Virgin
Mary, to love, to the hunt, come together and overlap in this series which still continues to
puzzle art historians. (light music)