The Hunters Return to the Castle (from the Unicorn Tapestries)

Unknown

1495–1505 · Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts · The Cloisters

Two episodes of the hunt narrative are brought together in this hanging. At left, two hunters drive their lances into the neck and chest of the unicorn, as a third delivers the coup de grâce from the back. In some contexts, the unicorn is an allegory for Christ; the large holly tree (often a symbol of Christ's Passion) rising from behind his head may conceivably be linked to this association. In the other episode, at right, a lord and a lady receive the body of the unicorn in front of their castle. They are surrounded by their attendants, with more curious onlookers peering through windows of the turret behind them. The dead animal is slung on the back of a horse, his horn already cut off but still entangled in thorny oak branches—perhaps an allusion to the Crown of Thorns.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1495–1505

Medium

Wool warp with wool, silk, silver, and gilt wefts

Culture

French (cartoon)/South Netherlandish (woven)

Department

The Cloisters

Credit line

Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1937