num_pages: 83
description: No one can remain indifferent to the charm emanating from one of the most famous tapestries in the world, La Dame à la Licorne, to be seen at the Musée national du Moyen Âge in Paris. Six large tapestries with a radiant vermilion ground sprinkled with cut flowers illustrate six allegories of the senses--Taste, Hearing, Sight, Smell, Feel. The last of the series, the most enigmatic and marvelous, evokes the sense of Understanding, that of the heart. Discovered in the nineteenth century in the château de Boussac (Creuse), they became part of the museum collection in 1882. Each carries the arms of Jean Le Viste, who ordered them to be woven. It was perhaps to celebrate his social advancement that he chose the most important center of tapestry at this time, Brussels, having them based on drawings by a French painter who remains unknown. Even today, this "mille fleurs" tapestry doesn't cease to enchant us.
language: English
title: The Lady and the Unicorn
titlecomplete: The Lady and the Unicorn
genres: Art History, France, History, Art
ratings_count: 60
publisher: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux