 The Lady and the Unicorn: A mon seul désir The Lady and the Unicorn (French: La dame à la licorne) is the title of a cycle of French tapestries often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle Ages in Europe. They are estimated to have been woven in the late 15th century (c. 1490), in Flanders. Download high resolution version (1813x1492, 799 KB)Lady With The Unicorn, Tapestry 6: A Mon Seul Désir File links The following pages link to this file: The Lady and the Unicorn ...
Download high resolution version (1813x1492, 799 KB)Lady With The Unicorn, Tapestry 6: A Mon Seul Désir File links The following pages link to this file: The Lady and the Unicorn ...
There is an album by Carol King called Tapestry A tapestry cushion, depicting pansies Tapestry is a form of textile art. ...
The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...
Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ...
(14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...
This article is about the Belgian region Flanders and the eponymous historical region of the Low Countries. ...
The tapestries are commonly interpreted as depicting the six senses - taste, hearing, sight, smell, touch, and "A mon seul désir" (meaning: "to my only desire"), often interpreted as love or understanding. Each of the six tapestries depicts a noble lady with the unicorn and some include a monkey or a lion in the scene. The pennants, as well as the armor of the Unicorn and Lion in the tapestry bear the arms of the sponsor, Jean Le Viste, a powerful nobleman in the court of King Charles VII. Senses are the physiological methods of perception. ...
The heart, a frequent modern symbol of love Love has several different meanings in every language, from something that gives a little pleasure (I loved that meal) to something one would die for (patriotism, pairbonding). ...
The gentle and pensive virgin has the power to tame the unicorn, in this fresco in Palazzo Farnese, Rome, probably by Domenichino, ca 1602 The unicorn is a legendary creature embodied like a horse, but slender and with a single — usually spiral — horn growing out of its forehead. ...
Cynomolgus Monkey at Batu Caves, Malaysia Monkeys, Mori Sosen (1749-1821) A monkey is any member of two of the three groupings of simian primates. ...
Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The Lion (Panthera leo) is a mammal of the family Felidae. ...
Charles VII the Victorious, a. ...
The tapestries are done in the style of mille-fleurs (meaning: "thousand flowers"). Mille-fleur (French) literally means thousand flower and refers to a background made of many small flowers and plants. ...
Wildflowers A flower is the reproductive organ of those plants classified as angiosperms ( flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ...
The tapestries were rediscovered in 1841 by Prosper Mérimée in Boussac castle (at the time, the subprefect of the Creuse) where they had been suffering damage from their storage conditions. Novelist George Sand brought public attention to the tapestries in her works at the time. The cycle is currently held in the Musée Cluny (Musée du Moyen-Age), Paris (France), where it has resided since 1882. Prosper Mérimée (September 28, 1803 - September 23, 1870) was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. ...
Creuse is a département in central France named after the Creuse River. ...
George Sand (portrait by Nadar) Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant (July 1, 1804 – June 8, 1876) was a French novelist and early feminist (prior to the invention of the word) who wrote under the pen name of George Sand. ...
The Musée de Cluny, officially known as Musée National du Moyen Âge, is a museum in Paris, France, at 6 Place Paul Painlevé, south of the Blvd St. ...
The neutrality and factual accuracy of this article are disputed. ...
These tapestries are also the central theme of the novels "The Lady and the Unicorn" by Tracy Chevalier, and "The Seventh Unicorn" by Kelly Jones. Tracy Chevalier (born in Washington, DC in October of 1962) is a historical novelist whose career began with the book The Virgin Blue but who became well known with a book on the creation of the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer. ...
The tapestries
- Taste
The lady is taking a candy from a dish held by a maidservant. Her eyes are on a parrot on her upheld left hand. The lion and the unicorn are both on their back feet reaching up to pennants that frame the lady on either side. The monkey is at her feet, eating one of the candies. - Hearing
The lady plays a positive organ on top of a table covered with a turkish carpet. Her maidservant stands to the opposite side, and holds the organ in place. The lion and unicorn once again frame the scene holding up the pennants, but in this scene, their positions are reversed so that they are inside the frame, and each is on the opposite the side of the lady that they are on in all the other tapestries. - Sight
The lady is seated, holding a mirror up in her right hand. The unicorn kneels on the ground, with his front legs in the lady's lap, from which he gazes at his reflection in the mirror. The lion on the left holds up a pennant. - Smell
The lady stands, making a wreath of flowers. Her maidservant holds a basket of flowers within her easy reach. Again, the lion and unicorn frame the lady while holding on to the pennants. The monkey has stolen a flower which he is smelling, providing the key to the allegory. - Touch
The lady stands with one hand touching the unicorn's horn, and the other holding up the pennant. The lion sits to the side and looks on. - A Mon Seul Désir
This tapestry is wider then the others, and has a somewhat different style. The lady stands in front of a tent, across the top which reads "A Mon Seul Désir" (To my sole desire). Her maidservant stands to the right, holding open a chest. The lady is placing the necklace she wears in the other tapestries into the chest. To her left is a low bench with bags of coins on it. The unicorn and the lion stand in their normal spots framing the lady while holding onto the pennants.
This tapestry has elicitied a number of interpretations. One interpretation sees the lady putting the necklace into the chest as a renunciation of the passions aroused by the other senses, and as an assertion of her free will. Another sees this tapestry as representing a sixth sense of understanding (Derived from the sermons of Jean Gerson of the university of paris c. 1420). Other various interpretations see the tapestry as representing love or virginity.
See also The Hunt of the Unicorn is a series of seven tapestries dating from 1495–1505. ...
External links - Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries Musee du Moyen Age photos and discussions of the 6 tapestries.
|
Feeds |
Contact