The Lady and the Unicorn (La Dame à la licorne) is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries created in the style of mille-fleurs and woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris around 1500.
Five of the tapestries are commonly interpreted as depicting the five senses – taste, hearing, sight, smell, and touch.
The sixth displays the words “À mon seul désir”. The tapestry’s intended meaning is obscure, but has been interpreted as representing love or understanding.
Each tapestry depicts a noble lady with the unicorn on her left and a lion on her right; some include a monkey in the scene.
Each work of art depicts one of the senses performing some action intended to exemplify the sense in question.
A sixth sense is represented in the sixth tapestry, which presents a further way of knowing the world. Scholars now generally agree that À Mon Seul Désir presents a meditation on earthly pleasures and courtly culture, offered through an allegory of the senses.
More on the magical Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries can be found at Musee-moyenage and The Conversation.
Humoring the Goddess 