ART SUNDAY - TAPESTRIES

“To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another.” - Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz

For Art Sunday today, The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, which are among the most beautiful art treasures of the world. They were woven in the workshops of Flanders, in the medieval style of mille fleurs, a "thousand flowers." Since 1882 the tapestries have been housed in Paris in the once medieval cloister, the Musée de Cluny.

The tapestries were discovered in 1841 by Prosper Mérimée in Château de Boussac, at the time sub-prefecture of Creuse, and entered immediately into history thanks to the writings of George Sand. The municipality of Boussac bought the château and all it contained in 1837 for about 1000 GBP. In 1882, the French Government, who, for the same sum, acquired them from the municipal authorities of Boussac, presented the tapestries to the Cluny Museum. They were woven, most likely in Tournai, about 1460 AD. The coat of arms on each of the tapestries is that of Le Viste, Lord of Fresne.

The tapestries consist of six pieces, of which the five illustrate the five human senses. They tell the legend of the unicorn, the fabled beast, pure white and having the head and legs of a horse and a long, twisted horn set in the middle of its forehead. Symbolic of holiness and chastity, the unicorn was prominent in tapestries of the Middle Ages, and has been widely used in heraldic devices. The images display the six hangings. The sixth, named "To My Sole Desire" is different from the others.

Taste: The lion and the unicorn are on either side of the lady, who with her eyes turned towards the parakeet she holds in her left hand, is taking a tidbit, handed to her by her maid. Her little dog follows attentively her movements, while eating something on the ground.

Sight: In a familiar way the unicorn has placed his front legs on the knees of the lady, looking at himself in the mirror which the lady holds up to him.

Touch: The lady, holding a squadron banner in one hand, caresses the unicorn with the other hand.

Smell: They lady is binding a crown of flowers. Behind her, it is the monkey that gives the key to this allegory. He is sniffing the perfume of a scented rose which he has taken from a basket.

Hearing: The lady plays a portable organ, placed on a table covered with a sumptuous table cloth. The lion and the unicorn surround the scene, and appear as decorative elements on the sides of the organ.

Understanding - Love: The meaning of the sixth tapestry (the 6th sense) is less easy to explain. The lady appears in front of a tent bearing the inscription "A Mon Seul Désir" (To My Sole Desire), and seems to place a necklace in a box which her servant is holding on to her. The question is whether this scene is the introduction to or the conclusion of the series of the five senses?

When I embrace her,
And her arms open wide,
I feel like a Man in Spiceland,
who is overwhelmed with perfume.
Then I kiss her; and she opens her lips.
Without a taste of beer,
I am intoxicated.