Wall-hanging of the Lady and the Unicorn (c. 1500)
The taste (details) - Cardboard : Paris ; weaving : Southern Netherlands (?) - Wool and silk / H. 377 x L. 466 cm
© Photo Rmn-GP (musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge) /M. Urtado
Touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight... These six tapestries...
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Wall-hanging of the Lady and the Unicorn (c. 1500)
The taste (details) - Cardboard : Paris ; weaving : Southern Netherlands (?) - Wool and silk / H. 377 x L. 466 cm
© Photo Rmn-GP (musée de Cluny - musée national du Moyen Âge) /M. Urtado
Touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight... These six tapestries, woven in around 1500, represent the five senses against a detailed red background.
The remaining sixth sense, explained only by the inscription "À mon seul désir" (To my only desire), has inspired countless theories. Without excluding a possible meaning in the register of courtly love, it could be a reference to free will: the woman with her decorative headdress and refined clothing, renouncing temporal pleasures.
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