Sunday Evening Art Gallery — The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries

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 (“thousand flowers”) and woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs (“cartoons”) drawn in Paris around 1500.

On display in the Musée de Cluny in Paris, 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  —  my only desire. The tapestry’s intended meaning is obscure, but has been interpreted as representing love or understanding.

Each of the six tapestries depicts a noble lady with the unicorn on her left and a lion on her right; some include a monkey in the scene.

The subject of the tapestries is complex, and scholars now (generally) agree that they present a meditation on earthly pleasures and courtly culture, offered through an allegory of the senses.

The tapestries exhibit a captivating blend of medieval aesthetics, classical symbolism, and elements of the natural world, and offer a glimpse into the cultural and artistic sensibilities of the late Middle Ages and have captivated audiences for centuries.

More information about The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries can be found at https://www.musee-moyenage.fr/en/collection/the-lady-and-the-unicorn.html and https://www.worldhistory.org/collection/171/the-lady-and-the-unicorn-medieval-tapestries.