In the Middle Ages the unicorn was thought of as being a strong and fierce animal associated with chastity and virginity. It was during this time that unicorns began appearing in artwork and tapestries. The Unicorn Tapestries have been one of the most popular tapestry wall hangings since the medieval era.
The Unicorn Tapestries is a set of seven tapestries dated c. 1495-1505 from Brussels. They each hang at 12'1" x 8'3." They are Franco-Flemish work and are commonly referred to as The Hunt of the Unicorn. The Unicorn Tapestries are located at The Cloisters in Northern Manhattan. The seven tapestries in the series are The Start of the Hunt, The Unicorn is Found, The Unicorn Leaps out of the Stream, The Unicorn at Bay, The Mystic Hunt of the Unicorn, The Unicorn is Killed and Brought to the Castle, and The Unicorn in Captivity. The tapestries serve as illustrations of the story of the main figure, the Unicorn. The tapestries were first discovered among the possessions of Francois VI de La Rochefoucauld's possessions after his death in 1680. They had later been seized by mobs during the French Revolution and were mistreated. At one point, the tapestries had even been used to cover vegetables in a barn. This resulted in damage such as the loss of several feet of the fabric. The tapestry which receive the most damage was the fifth tapestry in the set, The Mystic Hunt of the Unicorn, which remains only as two fragments of the original tapestry. The tapestries have been restored, with missing pieces re-woven and replaced by pieces from other tapestries.
The Unicorn Tapestries sometimes appear to be paintings when they are seen from a distance and even when they are seen in photographs. They are known for their charm, richness of...
... middle of paper ...
...ory and interpretation that the unicorn represents Christ comes into play. The unicorn's resurrection can be compared to the resurrection of Jesus Christ into a heavenly garden.
Another interpretation of the tapestries as a wedding gift can view the story as the unicorn being a lover who endures various hardships to win his lady's love; he had to suffer to win her heart. In the last tapestry the unicorn is now wearing the "chain of love" around his neck and surrounded by a fence, perhaps to show he is now tamed and domesticated by his lady's affection.
The juice of the pomegranates above falling onto the unicorns white coat also has different meaning. The seeds of the fruit represent the unity of the Church and hope for the Resurrection. It also is used to represent royalty and the many seeds represent fertility and the children to be produced by marriage.
The background behind the figure contains pelicans and grapes with vines. According to Mary Elizabeth Podles, the significance of the pelican is that the pelican will give its own blood to feed their own children, and the grapes represents the blood of Jesus during Eucharistic ceremony (54). Christians believe that they are consuming the blood of Christ when they drink the wine. Jesus fills his followers with his blood just like the pelicans feed his or her children with their blood.
A modern interpretation of this tale was written in 1965 by Manuel Mujica Láinez. His compelling tale of Melusine in The Wandering Unicorn stays true to Jean d’Arras’s, exploring the roots of the European myth. However, Láinez’s Melusine embarks on a whirlwind adventure through the time of the Crusades, delving into her shapeshifting life full of monsters, love, and war.
The kaleidoscope is a gift from XiuXiu’s first lover: a boy and also the narrator. This gift appears three times in the movie and it is symbolized as beauty, on the other hand because of the kaleidoscope’s feature, we can also know that the beautiful time won’t last long. The first time, it comes out in the night before XiuXiu leaves her hometown. Same as the other lovers, the boy wants to give her the most beautiful thing in his mind, something can make the girl remember him, something can symbolize his love: a kaleidoscope which can show millions of beautiful patterns. The boy is totally falling love with XiuXiu. As long as she in his sights, he can feel the love coming up from the bottom of his heart. This love starts so beautiful, but at the moment XiuXiu climes up the truck, this pure innocent love reaches its end. The second time, XiuXiu is learning how to herding horses from Laojing, during the brake, she takes the kaleidoscope out from her bag and lies down on the beautiful lawn with wild flowers all around her. Meanwhile LaoJing is building a bathtub for her on the hillock. She looks at these colorful patterns in the kaleidoscope and asks Laojing to take a look at it. Laojing obviously has never seen a kaleidoscope before, and he grabs it up without thinking. XiuXiu is a bit angry: “Now you’ve ruined it, the pattern’s gone.” The pattern is so easy to be changed even a little
The centerpiece on the white table holding the fruit represents the tree of knowledge that bares the forbidden fruit. In the book of Genesis, God made it clear to Adam may eat from any tree in the garden except "the tree of knowledge of good and evil”. Touching or eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge brings death to all. The humans who reside in the house
Art has so many sides as to look creativity of the world. In chapter 20 Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Northern Europe by Fred S. Kleiner, you will see Disguised Symbolism which is a Bisociations of visual forms which occur so subtly that they are not directly or readily apparent to the conscious mind of the viewer. Adding onto that A Northern Renaissance technique of giving a spiritual meaning to ordinary objects in the painting so that these detail can carry the religious message. The 15th century, the majority of clients engaging artwork changed from ministry members to lay patrons. Due to the change, the images being represented altered to combine everyday life with a disguised religious symbol. Reconciling these
velvet tapestries as blood flowing from the ceiling and walls to the floor. The relationship
Soon after, many visitors began coming to the cave. What was it these people were so excited to see? When visitors first entered the cave they had to go down a twenty-meter slope, which led to the first hall, The Great Hall Of Bulls. The first thing they saw in the Great Hall of Bulls were the black bulls. Attention is quickly focused on them because of their great size compared to the other paintings. Also found in the Great Hall of Bulls are pictures of horses, deer, a small bear, and a primitive unicorn. “The strange so-called Unicorn appears to be walking towards the interior of the cave.
Interestingly enough, Cellini’s Saltcellar of Francis () surprised me because of the small creatures at the sides of the golden people (Neptune and Tellus, the sea and the land). Created to be a salt dish for Francis I of France, the piece is ornately decorated with tiny jewels and different colors. What surprised me about this piece was the little horse-dragon near Neptune’s left side. With the head of a horse, feet like fins and scales of a fish, it reminded me of more fairy tales and mythological creatures, which shows what a diverse era this Renaissance period was.
Tapestries began to be made for more causal events. They then evolved into representing every day happenings. Tapestry became the art of that time period and told eventually we're studied and used by historians today. Original tapestries and their replicas for a smaller cost are sold today for people's interest. In todays time, we have more convenient machines that weave tapestries faster than the medieval times. Not as many tapestries are made and sold today compared to the medieval period (Touch of Tapestry).
While The Last Unicorn contains elements of a traditional fairy tale (good vs. evil, royalty, quests, magic, etc.), I believe that it is more than just a traditional fairy tale. The Last Unicorn critiques fairytales by being a slight parody by using the traditional elements, character awareness, and including valuable life lessons by tinkering with the “Happy ever after” element.
The shift between the Middle Ages and Renaissance was documented in art for future generations. It is because of the changes in art during this time that art historians today understand the historical placement and the socio-economic, political, and religious changes of the time. Art is a visual interpretation of one’s beliefs and way of life; it is through the art from these periods that we today understand exactly what was taking place and why it was happening. These shifts did not happen overnight, but instead changed gradually though years and years of art, and it is through them that we have record of some of the most important changes of historic times.
These works are as effective today at inspiring the viewer as they were hundreds of years ago. The Baroque period saw an overflow of creative excess. Just as children become amazed when a magician takes a rabbit out of his magic hat, Baroque painters created the special effects of their time create the same awe inspiring magic. By balancing color, light and shadow, perspective, illusionism, linear perspective, naturalistic figures borrowed from antiquity, and other trompe l’oeil techniques this magic was made. Within room, palaces, churches and chapels, these artists worked a special kind of magic that created space where there was none, and beauty where little had existed before.
Laura has a physical handicap with one leg being shorter than the other. With this handicap Laura was picked on and led to having high anxiety and stress. The anxiety and stress led to her not going to business college as stated when Amanda went to Laura’s class and talked to Laura’s teacher. To escape from the stress, Laura has a collection of glass sculptures. This is stated in the scene information of Scene II with “She [Laura] is washing and polishing her collection of glass” (Williams 1251). In Scene III when Tom and Amanda are fighting Tom through his jacket and broke a sculpture “With an outraged groan he [Tom] tears the coat off again, splitting the shoulders of it and hurls it across the room. It strikes against the shelf of Laura’s glass collection, there is a tinkle of shattering glass. Laura cries out as if wounded” (Williams 1257). Laura has one piece in her collection that wasn’t broken till later and means the most to her and that is the unicorn, Laura states this with “I shouldn’t be partial, but he is my favorite one” (Williams 1282). The unicorn represents her because the unicorn is different from a normal horse just like how she is different from other women, she then allows her gentleman caller Jim O’Connor to hold the unicorn and saying “Go on, I trust you with him”
The Quest for the Holy Grail is the most well-known of the Arthurian Legends. It describes King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and their journey to find the holy cup, from which Jesus drank and caught his spilled blood on the cross. This Grail supposedly had the ability to heal wounds, and provide means of life for those who drank from it. This quest is riddled with stories about the the legendary knights of the Round Table, and describes their exciting search across the country for the Holy Grail.
In The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the glass figurine of the unicorn plays an inherently important role as a representation of Laura's self esteem. The collection of glass figurines is used by Laura to escape from the dangers of the outside world. The unicorn is the central piece to her collection and is important because it directly symbolizes Laura. The unicorn represents Laura's obsession with her handicap and also represents the uniqueness in her character. As the play develops, the fracture of the unicorn's horn represents a change in Laura's perspective of self and also gives a reason to why she parts with the figurine in the end.