Work Record
Class [controlled]:
• decorative arts • textiles •
European art
*Work
Type [link]: •
tapestry (wall hanging)
*Title: Unicorn
in Captivity
*Creator
Display: unknown South Netherlandish
*Role
[link]: designer [link]:
unknown
*Creation
Date: 1495-1505 [controlled]: •
Earliest: 1495 • Latest:
1505
*Subject
[links]: •
object (utilitarian) • allegory •
unicorn (mythological animal) • human
figure • female • Unicorn
in Captivity (Christian iconography) •
Passion of Christ (Christian iconography) •
pomegranate tree • virginity •
marriage • fertility
Culture [link]:
• Flemish
*Current
Location [link]: Metropolitan
Museum of Art (New York, New York, United States)
• ID:
37.80.6
Creation Location
[link]: Brussels (Flanders, modern Belgium)
*Measurements:
368 x 251.5 cm (12 feet 1 inch x 8 feet 3 inches)
[controlled]: •
Value: 368 Unit:
cm Type: height
| • Value: 251.5
Unit: cm
Type: width
*Materials
and Techniques: wool warp, wool, silk,
silver, and gilt wefts
Material [links]: •
wool • silk • gold thread
• silver thread Technique
[links]: • weaving
Inscriptions: monograms:
FR; AE
Description: From
the Unicorn Hunt series; the story merges pagan
and Christian iconography; Unicorn was captured
after resting his head in a virgin's lap, as Christ
sacrificed his divinity to become human through
a virgin; this scene represents the Resurrected
Christ; other symbolism, including the fecund flora,
suggests this tapestry celebrated a marriage. The
unicorn also represents the beloved tamed. He is
tethered to a tree and constrained by a fence, but
the chain is not secure and the fence is low enough
to leap over: The unicorn could escape if he wished.
Clearly, however, his confinement is a happy one,
to which the ripe, seed-laden pomegranates in the
tree--a medieval symbol of fertility and marriage--testify.
Description Source
[link]: Metropolitan Museum of Art online.
www.metmuseum.org
(accessed 02 July 2007)
Related Works:
|
Relationship
Type: part of
[link
to Work Record]: series: Unicorn Tapestries;
South Netherlandish;
1495/1505; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New
York, New
York, USA)
|
Required and recommended elements
are marked with an asterisk.
|
