Ritrovamento dell'unicorno

1495–1505
On view at The Met Cloisters in Gallery 17
In questo arazzo, uno dei sette dedicati al mitico unicorno presenti ai Cloisters, il leggendario animale simile a un cavallo si china innanzi a una fontana, immergendo il lungo corno ritorto nel corso d’acqua che scorre in basso. Sui bordi della fontana sono posati una coppia di fagiani e una di cardellini. Immersi nella vegetazione riposano cervi e conigli insieme ad animali selvaggi, tra cui si distingue un leone. Dodici cacciatori accompagnati dai loro cani circondano gli animali, preparandosi ad attaccare. Vicino alla polla, le cui acque sono purificate dal magico corno dell’unicorno, sbocciano piante che si pensava avessero poteri antivenefici, come la salvia e l’arancio. Ciascuno dei sette arazzi ai Cloisters contiene le lettere A ed E intrecciate insieme, probabilmente le iniziali della coppia sconosciuta che per prima li possedette.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Titolo: Ritrovamento dell'unicorno
  • Data: 1495-1505
  • Cultura: Paesi Bassi meridionali
  • Materiale e tecnica: Ordito di lana con trama di filati di lana, seta, argento, oro
  • Dimensioni: 3,7 x 3,8 m
  • Crediti: Dono di John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1937
  • Numero d'inventario: 37.80.2
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

Audio

Disponibile solo in: English
Cover Image for 64. The Unicorn Is Found (from the Unicorn Tapestries)

64. The Unicorn Is Found (from the Unicorn Tapestries)

Gallery 17

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NARRATOR: Surrounding a tall white fountain is a company of twelve hunters and their dogs who have found the unicorn. The mystical beast, shown here kneeling on the ground, is dipping his horn into a stream. Other animals are also present. A pair of goldfinches perches on the fountain, not far from a pair of pheasants. Rabbits, lions, and other animals – some more realistic-looking than others -- flank both sides of the stream. According to legend, the unicorn cannot be disturbed when performing a magical act. Scholars have suggested that the unicorn is in the process of purifying a poisoned stream, a hypothesis supported by the presence of such plants as pot marigold—which you’ll see under the hyena’s chin; sage—the plant with the blue flowers in front of the fountain; and an orange tree in the lower right corner of the tapestry. All of them stand in close proximity to the stream and are known to have been used as antidotes against poison in the Middle Ages. The orange tree deserves a second look. It is flowering and bearing fruit at the same time – unusual yet botanically accurate. It has also been identified by botanists as a type of sweet orange introduced in Europe only around 1500. The precision with which the orange tree is represented attests to the designer’s careful observation, which we find not only in the depiction of plants but that of other objects throughout the tapestries. Our next stop is to the right, “The Unicorn Leaps Across A Stream.”

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