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"The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden" is one of seven tapestries in the "Unicorn Tapestries" group. These allegorical tapestries depict the hunting of a unicorn, a mythological animal common to European folklore. "The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden" has been preserved in two fragments. During the Middle Ages, it was believed that unicorns, otherwise impossible to capture, were drawn to young women, particularly virgins. Here we see the unicorn subdued by the maiden, while a hunter with a horn hides in the bushes, ready to alert his fellow hunters.
The tapestries originally belonged the Le Rochefoucald family of France, and the earliest record of them confirms that they were hanging in the Paris home of François VI de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680 CE) by 1680 CE. The tapestries are thought to have been woven in Brussels between 1495 – 1505 CE, although they were designed in Paris, France.
The Unicorn Tapestries are now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and are housed in the Met Cloisters.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
Art, T. M. M. o. (2020, October 21). The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/12960/the-unicorn-surrenders-to-a-maiden/
Chicago Style
Art, The Metropolitan Museum of. "The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified October 21, 2020. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/12960/the-unicorn-surrenders-to-a-maiden/.
MLA Style
Art, The Metropolitan Museum of. "The Unicorn Surrenders to a Maiden." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 21 Oct 2020. Web. 24 Dec 2024.
