The Unicorn Tapestries, woven between 1495 and 1505, celebrate a world of wonders with the unicorn at its very center.
The tapestries were owned for centuries by the La Rochefoucauld family before being purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. who donated them to The Cloisters Museum and Gardens, the medieval branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 1937.
Though these tapestries depict the hunt for this legendary creature, they are also a hymn of praise for Nature and all its abundance.
Lavishly woven in fine wool and silk with silver and gilded threads, the seven wall hangings are certainly amongst the most spectacular surviving artworks of the late Middle Ages.
The tapestries were probably woven in Brussels or Liège, which were important centers of the tapestry industry in medieval Europe.
Comprised of seven wall hangings, each panel is at least 12 feet high by eight feet wide.
The unicorn’s world includes over 100 recognizable plants and trees, all flowering at the same time, along with animals, wild and tame, domestic and exotic: pheasants, rabbits, a lion and his lioness, frogs, dogs and ducks.
The details and beauty of these tapestries have held viewers in fascination throughout time, and hopefully will continue in the future.
More about the Unicorn Tapestries can be found at:
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-unicorn-tapestries-1495-1505 https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/unicorn-tapestries-at-the-cloisters https://www.metmuseum.org/primer/met-cloisters/unicorn-tapestries-story
Humoring the Goddess 
I just might put these on my bucket list to see in person!
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I wonder how much time it took to create these works of art!
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:>)
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I so agree. I’d love to see them in person. There is so much going on in every tapestry!
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They are unlike anything else, don’t you think?
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Thank You!!
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I never realized that they were so big!
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Love!!!💖💖💖
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That is some amazing art work! Can you imagine how many hours of work went into them!
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I’ve always loved the unicorn inside the fence… I never knew there were six more in the series!
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Thank you Granny~ very much
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Glorious!
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They look amazing ! And when you see how intricate the patterns are, you just wonder, how did they do this so many centuries ago !!??
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These tapestries are fascinating!
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Reblogged this on GrannyMoon's Morning Feast.
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