Unicorn Hunt
Franconia, ca 1460
Tapestry in wool and gold leaf thread
73,5 x 149,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. T 1690
Acquired before 1910
Gallery 6
Central to the lore of courtly love poetry in the Middle Ages was the tale of the wild unicorn, which could only be caught in the lap of a young maiden. Medieval tapestries for secular use often depicted hunting scenes of the shy animal. The maiden and the unicorn often symbolised virtuous, faithful love as well as the powerful woman defeating the mythical beast. In this tapestry, a wild man is hunting down a unicorn in a forest landscape outside walls of a town. The “wild man” embodies the naturalistic, unbridled passion seeking its reward in a trophy. The figures below – a fool with his bagpipe, a farmer driving his donkey, and a hunter pursuing a deer – can be understood as further allusions to the many meanings of the theme. Another section of this tapestry depicting a scene at a fountain has also been preserved at the Bayerische Nationalmuseum.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
