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 Medium
Medium (category) Connections
In Form
Late medieval woven tapestry cycle (the Hunt of the Unicorn).
In Genre
In the Other Atlases
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Sources
1. Unicorn Tapestries (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
The Unicorn Tapestries or the Hunt of the Unicorn (French: La Chasse à la licorne) 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 paragraph
The Unicorn Tapestries or the Hunt of the Unicorn (French: La Chasse à la licorne) is a series of seven tapestries made in the Southern Netherlands around 1495-1505, and now in The Cloisters in New York City. They were possibly de
In Group: Tapestries and Embroidered Hangings, Lead
The Unicorn Tapestries or the Hunt of the Unicorn (French: La Chasse à la licorne) is a series of seven tapestries made in the Southern Netherlands around 1495-1505, and now in The Cloisters in New York City.
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