In this tapestry the unicorn kneels before a tall white fountain that has a pair of pheasants and a pair of goldfinches perched on its edge. Other animals both exotic and native to Europe lounge about, while twelve hunters in the back of the scene discuss the discovery of their quarry. Flora and fauna play a significant role in the narratives of the Unicorn Tapestries. Plants prescribed in medieval herbals as antidotes to poisoning, such as sage, pot marigolds, and orange, are positioned near the stream, which is being purified by the unicorn's magic horn.
#64. The Unicorn Is Found (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
Medium:Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts
Dimensions:Overall: 145 x 149in. (368.3 x 378.5cm)
Classification:Textiles-Tapestries
Credit Line:Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1937
Object Number:37.80.2
Inscription: (on each corner and in center): A [image of a knot] E [reversed] (unidentified)
(on red horn): W [backwards E] D H N O H N M E H O M (too fragmentary for interpretation)
Comtes de La Rochefoucauld, France ; François VI de La Rochefoucauld French, Paris (in 1680) ; François VIII de La Rochefoucauld, château de Verteuil, Charente (in 1728) ; Château de Verteuil (said to have been looted in 1793) ; Comtes de La Rochefoucauld, château de Verteuil, Charente (in 1856) ; Comte Aimery de La Rochefoucauld, château de Verteuil, Charente (until 1923) ; Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr. American (in 1923 through Edouard Larcade–until 1937)
Anderson Galleries. "Exhibited by Edouard Larcade," 1922.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Gothic Tapestries," May 25–September 16, 1928.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 14, 1970–June 1, 1971.
Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Masterpieces of Tapestry from the 14th to the 16th century," October 27, 1973–January 7, 1974.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Tapestry from the 14th to the 16th century," February 8–April 21, 1974.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Unicorn Tapestries," July 1–September 6, 1998.
New York. The Cloisters Museum & Gardens. "Search for the Unicorn: An Exhibition in Honor of The Cloisters' 75th Anniversary," May-14-Aug-18-2013.
Hunter, George Leland. The Practical Book of Tapestries. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1925. pl. VI, b–d.
Breck, Joseph. "The Tapestry Exhibition: Part I." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, o.s., 23, no. 6 (June 1928). pp. 147–50.
Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of French Gothic Tapestries. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1928. no. 4–9, pp. 18–21.
"Illustrierte Berichte aus Berlin, London, New-York, Minneapolis, München, Paris, Wien." Pantheon 2 (July 1928). p. 372.
Siple, Ella S. "French Gothic Tapestries of about 1500." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 53, no. 306 (September 1928). p. 145.
Migeon, Gaston. Les Arts du Tissu. Manuels d'histoire de l'art. Revised ed. Paris: Henri Laurens, 1929. pp. 325–26, ill.
Rorimer, James J. "Reports of the Departments." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 66 (1935). p. 29.
Rorimer, James J. "Reports of the Departments." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 69 (1938). p. 24.
Rorimer, James J. "New Acquisitions for the Cloisters." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 33, no.5, part 2 (May 1938). pp. 14–17, fig. 12.
Lief, Zola. "The Cloisters." The Compleat Collector 3, no. 7 (May 1943). p. 4.
Rorimer, James J., and William Holmes Forsyth. "The Medieval Galleries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 12, no. 6 (February 1954). p. 121.
Rorimer, James J. The Cloisters: The Building and the Collection of Medieval Art in Fort Tryon Park. 3rd revised ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1963. p. vii.
Stoddard, Whitney S. Monastery and Cathedral in France: Medieval Architecture, Sculpture, Stained Glass, Manuscripts, the Art of the Church Treasuries. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1966. pp. 357–59.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. New York: Dutton Publishing, 1970. no. 176, p. 193.
Tomkins, Calvin. Merchants and Masterpieces: The Story of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1970. pp. 252–53, 259.
Coffinet, Julien. Arachné ou L'art de la tapisserie. Paris: Bibliothèque des arts, 1971. pp. 201–203, 205.
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Nickel, Helmut. "About the Sequence of the Tapestries in The Hunt of the Unicorn and The Lady with the Unicorn." Metropolitan Museum Journal 17 (1982). pp. 9–14, fig. 2, 8.
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Campbell, Thomas P., ed. Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002. pp. 46, 70–79, fig. 34.
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Piccat, Marco. "Le lettere nascoste: Caterina d’Aragona e le tappezzerie del liocorno. Musée de Cluny (Parigi)." Locus Amœnus 10 (2009–2010). p. 18.
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Gertsman, Elina. "Sensual Delights: Fountains, Fiction, and Feeling." In Myth and Mystique: Cleveland's Gothic Table Fountain, edited by Stephen Fliegel, and Elina Gertsman. Cleveland Masterwork Series, Vol. 3. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. pp. 69–70, fig. 57.
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Boehm, Barbara Drake. "A Blessing of Unicorns: The Paris and Cloisters Tapestries." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 78, no. 1 (Summer 2020). pp. 22–3, 39, 41, 45, fig. 5.
Burchard, Wolf. Inspiring Walt Disney: the Animation of French Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021. pp. 88–96, 217, fig. 75.
Travel back in time with a medieval look inspired by The Met’s beloved _The Unicorn Tapestries_ and see how you can replicate one of the hunters from the tapestries using makeup.
Researchers in the field of computer vision–training computers to understand and recognize information in images–have been working with the Met collection to develop new algorithmic models for allowing their software to "see."
Philippe de Montebello, former Director of The Met, guides viewers through The Cloisters, pointing out Romanesque and Gothic architecture and artwork, beautiful tapestries, and the diverse species in the gardens. He outlines the history of the building and its many influences and highlights significant works of art in the collection.
Produced for the 1974 exhibition _Masterpieces of Tapestry_, this short form recounts the tale depicted in “The Unicorn Tapestries” and explains the symbolic meaning of these mythic creatures, including their purifying and restorative powers.
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