The Unicorn Leaps out of the Stream, ca. 1495–1505
South Netherlandish
Wool warp, wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts; 12 ft. 1 in. x 14 ft. (368 x 427 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1937 (37.80.3)

During its flight from the hunting party, the stag often used different tricks to escape, including "beating up the river" or "foiling down" a river so that its scent would be lost in the water.

The machete-like hunting knives hanging at the huntsmen's waists were often carried in scabbards that had additional compartments for skinning knives, bodkins (stillettos), and whet-steels. They were used to chop underbrush, make kindling wood for the campfire, cut open the dead game, and slice the meat after it had been roasted.

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