Cluny Museum | Lions and Lilies

THE UNICORN – MEDIEVAL BEAST OR HERALDIC HERO?

(By Cathy T)

The unicorn is one of the most beautiful creatures to rise to fame during the medieval age but its history goes a lot further back and the most intriguing fact that must be kept in mind is that right up to the 17thC, people actually believed unicorns were real.

THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF A UNICORN

The unicorn was depicted in seals as far back as the Bronze Age (3300 – 1300 BC) in the ‘Indus Valley Civilisation,’ of South Asia nowadays known Afghanistan, Pakistan and north west India.

Unicorn seal of Indus Valley, Indian Museum

It was also mentioned by the ancient Greeks and writers of ancient Rome such as Pliny the Younger (born 61 AD) and Aelian. Pliny described it as ‘the fiercest animal’ and ‘impossible to capture one alive. It has the body of a horse, the head of a stag, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, and a single black horn three feet long in the middle of its forehead. Its cry is a deep bellow.’

Winged Unicorn, 510 BC, Winged Unicorn, 510 BC, Palace of Darius in Susa, Susa, Iran (Louvre)

UNICORN APPEARS IN THE BIBLE

The unicorn also appeared in the Bible, translated from the word re’em meaning unicorn, only scholars were later to learn that earliest Hebrew word could have meant ‘wild ox.’ Still, there are more cross-references in the Bible to the horn as a symbol, suggesting unicorn may have been the meaning after all. Thereafter, the animal was identified strongly to Christ giving birth to its religious connotation as well as its secular.

At the time of the crusades in the Middle Ages, when armorial bearings were an integral part of a nobleman’s possessions, the knight who were fighting under the banner of the Cross were attracted to the wild antelopes of Syria and Palestine. It is recorded that these animals were ‘armed with long, straight, spiral horns set close together’ so that a side view would reveal ‘but a single horn.’ Given that the unicorn was a hybrid of more than one animal, (also quite an acceptable practice in medieval times), here then, was the living proof of its existence as testified by the crusading knights. Some ambitious travellers even managed to bring back unicorn horns, though it is now known to have belonged to the marine creature, the narwhal, a medium-sized whale.

THE MEDIEVAL UNICORN

By medieval times, the unicorn had become a creature bearing a horse’s head, neck and mane as observed by Pliny, and a goat’s beard and cloven hooves as attested by Physiologus, a Christian text compiled in Greek by an unknown author in Alexandria somewhere between the 2^nd and 4^th century AD. This book described fantastic creatures and after each account, an anecdote was offered from which the moral and symbolic qualities could be derived.

Unicorn Couchant

Aristotle was to have said that the unicorn’s hoof was solid and that animals with divided hooves have two horns when they have any horns at all, but the Physiologus declared that the unicorn’s hoof resembled a goat’s, therefore it was cloven. Confused, early representations show the animal with cloven forefeet and solid hooves on the back legs. But even such irregularities could not take away the beauty of the unicorn nor deplete its symbolism for it became powerful in its own right. (And here I was thinking the cloven hooves in a Christian text would lead to the Devil somehow! But in fact, it was quite the opposite.)

Unicorn Rampant

In medieval heraldry, a lion’s tail was added to the unicorn’s mix of horse and goat, and its symbolism matched perfectly to the chivalric virtues held by the knight. The proud, aristocratic bearing of the animal which also stood for purity (chastity for the knights), its kinship with the horse, (the same being the knight’s most prized possession) and the devotion to beautiful women as adopted by the art of courtly love, made it a perfect choice to use as a charge (a figure displayed in a coat of arms). The unicorn was fierce when attacked and protector to his foes but it was also gentle and bore the dignity of solitude and wandering as did a knight.

Various positions of a heraldic unicorn

The monks and heraldists of the times described its pride, purity, endurance, matchless spirit and its refusal to be taken alive. Later, a 16thC writer, John Guillim, described the beast as ‘the greatness of his mind is such that he rather chooseth to die than to be taken alive: wherein the unicorn and the valiant-minded soldier are alike, which both contemn death, and rather than they will be compelled to undergo any base servitude or bondage, they will lose their lives.’ (Indeed, one of the order of knights, Order of the Star,’ created in 14thC France had a motto somewhat similar, and in doing so, was almost immediately extinct for the very reason that the soldiers refused to yield and died instead.)

The only way you could catch a unicorn was by luring it with a pure maiden (a virgin), sometimes depicted naked in illustrations. She would sit quietly in the forest whereupon the docile creature would lay its head in her lap to sleep, sure of her protection.

British Library, Royal MS 12 F. xiii, Folio 10v

And therein lay the way to danger for the duplicitous woman knew the hunters were positioned to capture and kill it. A unicorn horn, which could be used to detect poison or render poison harmless, was of immeasurable value. I wonder how many unscrupulous apothecaries sold the ground horn of an ordinary animal as ‘powdered unicorn horn,’ called alicorn, also known for its aphrodisiac qualities, as a potion to the highborn?

In religion, the unicorn signifies Christianity, the incarnate Redeemer, who raised the ‘horn of salvation’ (Psalm 17:3) for the sins of man, was captured and put to death. The unicorn’s fierce wildness upon capture was to show the inability of hell to hold Christ, and the single horn a symbol of the unity of God and Christ, and the connection to a virgin cannot be overlooked either.

In the secular world, the unicorn represented wisdom, lovers and marriage. Both of these ideals were well-represented in two different sets of medieval tapestries which have survived to the present day, though the actual stories behind the commissioning of the works still remain a mystery.

The first of these sets can idealise both a secular and a religious theme. It is called ‘The Hunt for the Unicorn’ and is comprised of seven tapestries, twelve feet tall and up to fourteen feet wide, though there is some shadow of doubt as to whether the seventh tapestry actually belongs to the set. They currently reside in the Cloisters Museum in New York and experts have set their creation at around 1495 to 1505, probably originating in Brussels (known in medieval times as Flanders) famous for its high-quality tapestry construction.

First appearing in a 1680 inventory of possessions for François VI de La Rochefoucauld at his castle in Paris, the tapestries were later moved to the family chateau in Verteuil. The chateau was looted during the French Revolution and other accounts describes the tapestries being found some seventy years later in a barn after having being used by peasants to keep warm or cover potatoes. The family managed to re-acquire the tapestries in the 1850’s, one of which was in a decrepit state with only a mere two fragments remaining. They were sent to New York for exhibition in 1922 where they were bought by John D Rockefeller Jnr who kept them until 1937 and then gave the tapestries to the Cloisters museum where they reside today.

TAPESTRY NO. 1 – THE HUNT FOR THE UNICORN

The first of the tapestries begins with the hunt itself – the hunters and dogs searching for the unicorn. The large letters of ‘A’ and ‘E’ tied together in a knotted cord have caused many a scholar to ponder upon the ownership. Some believe it stands for Adam and Eve, while others believe it identifies Anne of Brittany who married King Louis XII of France in 1499 – a fitting reason for a large set of expensive tapestries to be commissioned.

2 – THE UNICORN IS FOUND

The unicorn is found by the hunters at the fountain where it dips its horn with magical properties into the water rendering it safe for the forest animals to drink.

3 – THE UNICORN IS LURED BY A MAIDEN

This is the tapestry in which only two segments have survived and it is assumed that the maiden is used to lure the unicorn into a secluded area of the garden. The next three tapestries need no explanation but the seventh tapestry has been open to many interpretations.

4 – THE UNICORN IS CAPTURED

5 – THE UNICORN DEFENDS ITSELF

6 – THE UNICORN IS KILLED AND TAKEN TO THE CASTLE

7 – THE UNICORN IN CAPTIVITY

Did they really kill the unicorn in tapestry no. 6? If the religious meaning is applied to the tapestries, then yes, and the seventh tapestry is to show Christ’s resurrection, now residing in paradise (a wonderful garden filled with flowers). Similarly, the other panels show the symbolism of the unicorn purifying the waters, (Christ’s miracles on earth) captured by a maiden (born of Mary) and betrayed (Judas) and killed violently (passions of the Christ) with the wound of the spear shown in this tapestry. The hunt takes place within a Hortus conclusus, (enclosed garden), which was not only a representation of a secular, physical garden, but a connection with the Annunciation.

Yet equally, a secular meaning be applied that the maiden has subdued a bachelor, brought him to heel ready for marriage and this last tapestry shows him tethered, confined by a fence though it is said the chain is not secure and the fence is low so escape could be possible. Poets of the time often used a chain to symbolise a lover’s devotion to his lady and the unicorn seems quite happy in his new environment. The ripe, seed-laden pomegranates in the tree drip their juice onto him signifying the medieval symbol of fertility and marriage.

It is agreed upon that the tapestries were probably made around 1495 – 1505; the costumes and facial expressions of the people resembling those of miniature paintings in Paris at that time. Brussels was a major weaving centre and chemical analysis has revealed the three dye plants used – madder (red), woad (blue) and weld (yellow). Medieval tapestry weavers worked side-by-side on large looms and only in daylight as candlelight might distort the thread colours and was also a huge fire threat. Without knowing how many men worked on how many looms, it is impossible to guess how long it would have taken to weave this set of tapestries, however, a year or two, possibly more, would not be out of the question. Such would also have been the case with the Lady and the Unicorn, another fabulous example of the era.

THE LADY AND THE UNICORN

This set resides at the Cluny museum in Paris and they are a marvel to see!

They are said to represent ‘a meditation on earthly pleasure and courtly culture, offered through an allegory of the senses.’ There are six pieces, five of them representing the five senses of touch, taste, smell, sound and sight, while the sixth has left scholars debating its meaning. It is called ‘Mon Seul Desir’ interpretable as ‘to my only/sole desire’ which has elicited a number of opinions.

1. TOUCH

The lady stands with one hand touching the unicorn’s horn, and the other holding up the pennant. The lion sits to the side and looks on.

2. TASTE

The lady is taking sweets from a dish held by a maidservant. Her eyes are on a parakeet on her upheld left hand. The lion and the unicorn are both standing on their hind legs reaching up to pennants that frame the lady on either side. The monkey is at her feet, eating one of the sweetmeats.

3. SMELL

The lady stands, making a wreath of flowers. Her maidservant holds a basket of flowers within her easy reach. Again, the lion and unicorn frame the lady while holding on to the pennants. The monkey has stolen a flower which he is smelling, providing the key to the allegory.

4. SOUND

The lady plays a portative organ (small pipe organ) and a younger woman stands on the opposite side and operates the bellows. The lion and unicorn once again frame the scene holding up the pennants. Just as on all the other tapestries, the unicorn is to the lady’s left and the lion to her right – a common denominator to all the tapestries.

5. SIGHT

The lady is seated, holding a mirror up in her right hand. The unicorn ‘kneels,’ with his front legs in the lady’s lap, from which he gazes at his reflection in the mirror. The lion on the left holds up the pennant bearing the coat of arms.

6. À MON SEUL DESIR

The lady stands in front of a tent, across the top of which is written “À Mon Seul Désir“. A younger woman stands to the right, holding open a chest. The lady is placing the necklace she wears in the other tapestries into the chest. To her left is a low bench with a dog sitting on a decorative pillow. It is the only tapestry in which the lady smiles. The unicorn and the lion stand in their normal spots framing the lady while holding onto the pennants.

One interpretation sees the lady putting the necklace into the chest as a renunciation of the passions aroused by the other senses, and as an assertion of her free will. Another sees the tapestry as representing a sixth sense of understanding. It is also much debated whether the lady is picking up or setting aside the necklace.

The six tapestries were also woven in Flanders from wool and silk, the use of ‘mille-fleurs’ meaning ‘thousand flowers’ very popular at this time, and since a tapestry’s main role was to cover the cold, stone walls of a castle and brighten the room during long winter months, the mille-fleurs served to remind the occupants of a summer meadow. Many of these plants have been identified and all could be found wild in the French countryside of the times.

The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries bear the arms of the Le Viste family although scholars can no longer agree if it was Jean le Viste in the court of King Charles VII or a descendant in the court of Charles VIII. We shall probably never know for sure. They were discovered in 1841 in Boussac castle, suffering damage from their storage conditions until 1863 when they were brought to the Thermes de Cluny in Paris. They can be seen there today at the Cluny museum, now renamed the Musee National du Moyen Age (National museum of the Medieval Age).

One can not help but wonder at the ladies in this beautiful set of tapestries. Who were they? Author Tracy Chevalier offers her suggestions in her novel titled ‘The Lady and the Unicorn’ (2003) which tells the story of the artist behind the conception of the tapestries and is a delightful read.

Today it is known that the unicorn is a mythical beast. Lately it seems to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity to become a much-loved creature to children as well. One need only walk through the shops to see the all the beautiful, sparkly clothes, blankets, toys, lunchboxes and books dedicated to the unicorn. Oh, where were all these when I was growing up?