The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries)

1495–1505
On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 17

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title:
    The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
  • Date:
    1495–1505
  • Geography:
    Made in Paris, France (cartoon); Made in Southern Netherlands (woven)
  • Culture:
    French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)
  • Medium:
    Wool warp, wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts
  • Dimensions:
    Overall: 145 x 124in. (368.3 x 315cm)
  • Classification:
    Textiles-Tapestries
  • Credit Line:
    Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1937
  • Object Number:
    37.80.1
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

Audio

Cover Image for 63. The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries)

63. The Hunters Enter the Woods (from the Unicorn Tapestries)

Gallery 17

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NARRATOR: Here you see a group of hunters, accompanied by their hounds, walking in a wooded area full of flowers and trees. There are a total of 101 species of plants represented in the Unicorn Tapestries, of which over 85% have been identified. Some are easy to recognize, such as Daffodils, periwinkles, daisies and violets. Some, for example Lady’s Mantle and Butcher’s Broom, are in fact grown in the gardens at The Cloisters. In addition, chemical analysis has confirmed that three vegetal dyes were used to produce many of the vivid colors you see here. These three dye plants are weld, madder, and woad; they yield the colors yellow, red and blue -- which were then combined to create wide palette needed by the weavers. You can find these and other dye plants growing in the so-called “Artist’s Bed” in the Bonnefont Cloister on the lower level of the Museum. Looking at the tapestry, you will notice that while the hunting party walks through the fields a young boy, half-hidden behind a walnut tree at the upper right-hand corner, signals to the hunters. His gesture suggests that he has spotted something – perhaps the quarry he was entrusted with locating. Now look at the tapestry on the wall to your right, on the left-hand side of the pointed archway. This is called “The Unicorn is Found.”

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