Overview

This tapestry made via hand-block printing is created in the style of mille-fleurs and is known as "The Lady and the Unicorn". Its design is French and it is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries woven in Flanders of wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris in the late 15th century. This particular tapestry does not represent one of the five senses but rather it is a fine representation of the sixth tapestry known as "À mon seul désir" which is wider than the others and has a somewhat different style.

The lady stands in front of a tent, across the top of which is written "À Mon Seul Désir", an obscure motto, variously interpret able as "according to my desire alone"; "by my will alone", "love desires only beauty of soul", "to calm passion". Her maidservant 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 bags of coins on it. The unicorn and the lion stand in their normal spots framing the lady while holding onto the pennants.

This tapestry has elicited a number of interpretations. 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 (derived from the sermons of Jean Gerson of the University of Paris, c. 1420). Various other interpretations see the tapestry as representing love or virginity. The suite, on display in the Musée du Moyen Âge in France, is often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle Ages in Europe. Five of the tapestries are commonly interpreted as depicting the five senses - taste, hearing, sight, smell, and touch.

Made in Pakistan

100% Cotton

Hand-blocked

Design Origin: French

Brand new, one of a kind