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This tapestry takes inspiration from a set of six wall hangings woven in the 15th century depicting the Unicorn hunt.
This panel shows the Unicorn drinking amid other beasts at the fountain, with the hunter and dogs closing in. Note the`mille fleur' (thousand flowers) style, i.e. covered with tiny flowers, among which can be seen are pansies, ragged robin, violets, harebells, and other wild flowers. The Hunt of the Unicorn or the Unicorn Tapestries (French: La Chasse à la licorne), one of the most famous and spectacular but enigmatic survivors of the late Middle Ages. This series of seven tapestries now in The Cloisters in New York was possibly made – or at least designed – in Paris at the turn of the sixteenth century. They are one of the canonical works of Late Middle Ages/Early Renaissance art and show a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a unicorn through an idealised French landscape.
First recorded in 1680 in the Paris home of the de la Rochefoucauld family, the tapestries were looted at the French Revolution. Rediscovered in a barn in the 1850s, they were hung at the family's Château de Verteuil. Since then they have been the subject of intense scholarly debate about the meaning of their iconography, the identity of the artists who designed them, and the sequence in which they were meant to be hung. Although various theories have been put forward, as yet nothing is known of their early history or provenance, and their dramatic but conflicting narratives have inspired multiple readings, from chivalric to Christological. Variations in size, style, and composition suggest they come from more than one set, linked by their subject matter, provenance, and the mysterious AE monogram which appears in each. One of the panels, The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn, only survives in two fragments.

Woven on a Jacquard loom by Master weaversWall tapestries are woven works of art with texture not found in any other art form. The combination of the thread colors and weaves creates a unique art experience. This tapestry is woven on jacquard loom, fully lined and finished with two rod pockets on the backside so you can hang it easily.

Unicorn at Fountain “The Hunt of the Unicorn”

£105.00Price
  • Size approx. 39 inches H x 39 inches W (100cm x 100cm)

    Weight1.8 pounds (0.8KG)

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