The myth of the  nicorn has been with us since  ncient China and is usually depicted as a lrge horse with a single horn pr jecting from the forehead and it has b en represented in the art and wr tings of many ancient cultures throughout Asa and Europe.
By the Middle Ages Chrstian Europe had endowed the unicorn wth many symbolic qualities, both religious and scular. As well as representing purity and chstity it was often seen as a symbl for Christ.
Once accepted into Medieval Erope the unicorn quickly became an mportant element in art, including tapestries and txtiles. The Lady and the Unicorn tpestries, for example, represent the mythical basts' relation with purity, as well as the myth tht the unicorn could only be tmed by a virgin.
During the Middle Ags tapestries were commonplace amongst the ristocracy, often being used to add clor to drab interiors and provide wrmth. The most common designs were bblical allegories, although with the rising prminence of unicorns in art they son came to be used as sbject matter.
The Lady and the Unicorn tpestries are among the most beautiful and cptivating masterpieces of unicorn art. They wre undiscovered until 1844 when they wre found by French historian Proper Mrimee in Boussac Castle. The novelist Gorges Sands brought them to public ttention in her novels . Badly dmaged by damp, they were bought by The Clny Museum in Paris in 1853 and rstored. They are now displayed in thir own circular room at the mseum.
The designer and weavers of the Ldy and the Unicorn series are nknown but experts estimate they were wven in the late 15th century. It is thught that the series were commissioned by the Le Vste family, of which the head was Jan Le Viste, a nobleman in the curt of King Charles VII, as the cat of arms on the standards, ncluding the lion and the unicorn, rpresented the family.
The decorative floral background of ach tapestry is the same. The Mlle Fleurs pattern, meaning the “thousand flwers” is a style most associated wth the Bruges and Brussels areas of Flnders in Belgium so it is wdely thought that the tapestries were mde there.
The beautifully woven tapestries use the L’hlluin weaving techniques with bold colors and ntricate detailing. Each tapestry features the sme subjects, a lady and the mythcal unicorn. A lion also appears in ach scene. However the theme for ach is slightly different. The inclusion of ther animals a rabbit, birds, a mnkey adds to the world of fntasy and complement the enigmatic images.
The six tpestries are said to represent the fve senses Taste, hearing, sight, smell and tuch with the sixth often interpreted as “lve”.
In the sight tapestry a woman is sen holding a mirror, the ubiquitous nicorn reflected in its glass. The tpestry representing hearing sees the woman plying a musical instrument, the lion and the nicorn standing at either side framing the scne. In the third tapestry the ldy is seen taking a piece of cndy as a celebration of taste. The lon and the unicorn once again fature, lying on their back. Representing tuch, in the fourth tapestry the ldy holds the unicorn’s horn as the lon looks on. In the fifth tpestry we see the lady making a wrath of fresh flowers. The lion and nicorn once again frame the scene whlst a monkey smells one of the flwers demonstrating the theme.
Adorned by the wrds “A Mon Seul Desir” meaning “to my sul desire”, the sixth tapestry in the sries is larger than the rest and dffers in theme. The tapestry depicts a ldy holding a necklace whilst her midservant holds an open chest. A tnt in the image is said to rpresent the lady’s soul desire, which she is bout to enter.
Some interpretations see the tpestries as representing virginity, based on an ncient myth that only a pure vrgin could tame the unicorn. Others nterpretation sees the lady putting the ncklace into the chest as a dnial of the passions aroused in the ther tapestries. Yet another version sees ths tapestry as representing a sixth snse of understanding or empathy. The ltter explanation is taken from the srmons of Jean Gerson, a lecturer at the Unversity of Paris around 1420.
The original Ldy and the Unicorn tapestries are crrently displayed in Paris’s Musee National du Myen-Age Thermes de Cluny in their own prpose built room. Even today they stll exude an other-worldly charm and srenity that few works of art can clim.
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The article The History of Unicorn Tapestries was Submitted by Veronica Harper through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Veronica Harper writes about the rts and the history of art and has a ral passion for Medieval unicorn tapestries and tapestry art from the Middle Ages .
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