THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART BULLETIN | VOLUME 78 | NUMBER 1

A Blessing of Unicorns: The Paris and Cloisters Tapestries

Boehm, Barbara Drake

2020

48 pages

41 illustrations

This title is out of print.

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Description

Table of contents

About the authors

This Bulletin examines the fascinating stories behind the only known sets of unicorn tapestries in the world—one at The Met Cloisters and another at the Musée de Cluny, Paris. The thirteen tapestries that compose the two sets—six at the Cluny and seven at The Met—remain shrouded in mystery, with their origins and original owners still unknown. Considering the iconography of these two collections together and drawing from primary sources, this Bulletin aims to reach a better understanding of these masterworks and their mythical subject that has captured the public imagination for centuries.

Met Art in Publication

The Unicorn Rests in a Garden (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven) — The Unicorn Rests in a Garden (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp, wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven) — The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

Trumpeters leading Ceasar on horseback, from 'The Triumphs of Caesar', Jacob of Strasbourg, Woodcut — Trumpeters leading Ceasar on horseback, from 'The Triumphs of Caesar'
Jacob of Strasbourg
1504

The Unicorn Purifies Water (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven) — The Unicorn Purifies Water (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

The Unicorn Crosses a Stream (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven) — The Unicorn Crosses a Stream (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

Peregrinatio in terram sanctam., Bernhard von Breydenbach German, Woodcuts — Peregrinatio in terram sanctam.
Bernhard von Breydenbach
1486

The Unicorn Defends Himself (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven) — The Unicorn Defends Himself (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

Horae, B.M.V. use of Rome, Thielman Kerver , Paris French, Printed on paper — Horae, B.M.V. use of Rome
Thielman Kerver
August 6, 1504

The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven) — The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, South Netherlandish — The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

The Hunters Return to the Castle (from the Unicorn Tapestries), Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts, French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven) — The Hunters Return to the Castle (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
1495–1505

Unicorn of James IV of Scotland (r. 1488–1513), Gold, British — Unicorn of James IV of Scotland (r. 1488–1513)
1488–1513

Box with Romance Scenes, Elephant ivory, French — Box with Romance Scenes
ca. 1310–30

Old Age Drives the Stag out of a Lake and the Hounds Heat, Grief, Cold, Anxiety, Age, and Heaviness Pursue Him: (from The Hunt of the Frail Stag), Wool warp, wool and silk wefts, embroidered with wool, South Netherlandish — Old Age Drives the Stag out of a Lake and the Hounds Heat, Grief, Cold, Anxiety, Age, and Heaviness Pursue Him: (from The Hunt of the Frail Stag)
ca. 1500–1525

Le Premier Volume de la bible en francoiz historiee et nouvellement imprimee, Antoine Vérard French, Woodcuts — Le Premier Volume de la bible en francoiz historiee et nouvellement imprimee
Antoine Vérard
ca. 1501

A Blessing of Unicorns: The Paris and Cloisters Tapestries

Met Art in Publication

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