The Lady and the Unicorn

'The Lady and the Unicorn' ('La Dame à la licorne', c. 1500), woven in Flanders or possibly Paris to a French design, is a sequence of six mille-fleurs tapestries that is the summit of late-medieval European weaving. Five panels personify the senses — Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch — and the sixth, 'À mon seul désir', has been variously read as spiritual love or a mysterious sixth sense. Red grounds strewn with white flowers, a stately lady, the unicorn, and a lion compose one of the most poetic ensembles of medieval art, permanently displayed at the Musée de Cluny in Paris.

Exhibition Venue

Musée de Cluny

Paris, France