The Unicorn Tapestries, also known as The Hunt of the Unicorn, are a set of seven surviving tapestries, comprising five large pieces, one small piece and two further fragments, woven around 1495 to 1505 in wool, silk and metallic thread using natural dyes, showing noblemen and hunters pursuing a unicorn through an idealized French landscape. Their exact origin and original patron are not certainly known, though their costly materials, including silk alongside wool, point to a wealthy commission, and their imagery has been read in ways ranging from courtly and chivalric to Christian allegory. Held today at the Cloisters, the medieval branch of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, they are considered among the finest surviving examples of the tapestry weaver's art from the period.
Facts
Year CreatedMade circa 1495-1505 per cited source; 1495 recorded as the earliest year of the range. Mediumwool, metallic threads, and silk 1 LocationThe Cloisters, New York City, United States 1 Connections
In Form
Late medieval woven tapestry cycle (the Hunt of the Unicorn).
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Unicorn Tapestries (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead sentence, date-range clause ('around 1495-1505')
The Unicorn Tapestries or the Hunt of the Unicorn is a series of seven tapestries made in the Southern Netherlands around 1495-1505, and now in The Cloisters in New York City.
Fourth sentence, material clause ('woven in wool, metallic threads, and silk')
The tapestries were woven in wool, metallic threads, and silk.
Lead sentence, location clause ('now in The Cloisters in New York City')
The Unicorn Tapestries or the Hunt of the Unicorn is a series of seven tapestries made in the Southern Netherlands around 1495-1505, and now in The Cloisters in New York City.
Genre reference
Held today at the Cloisters, the medieval branch of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, they are considered among the finest surviving examples of the tapestry weaver's art from the period.
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