The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries

Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing, and Sight… along with a sixth piece featuring a blue tent with the inscription my only desire: the tapestries that make up the series of tapestries featuring The Lady and the Unicorn are among the most well known works in the collections of the Musée de Cluny.

The red background and the same scene composition unite the six tapestries. On a large blue oval, the elegant Lady, wearing with jewellery and often assisted by a maid, stands solemnly, between a lion and a unicorn carrying a banner, cape or heraldic shield with three crescents. The group is bordered by four species of tree: oak, orange, pine, and holly. The ground of the six "islands" is adorned with flowers, and the red backgrounds are dotted with flowering plants and animals: white rabbits, fox cubs, a lion cub, lambs, birds… as well as monkeys and a panther…

The coat of arms, gules (red) with a band of azure (blue) set with three silver crescents (white), allowed the family that commissioned these pieces to be identified: the Le Viste family, which was originally from Lyon but owned land in Burgundy and residences in Paris. The identity of the patron remains a topic of debate: it could be either Jean IV Le Viste, who died in 1500, or his nephew Antoine, who died in 1532, both prominent figures during the reigns of the French kings Charles VIII and Louis XII, and who held positions in the high administration of the time.

The large-scale models of women and animals were drawn by the painter Jean d'Ypres. He worked in Paris from 1489 to 1508, and was known to be an illuminator in the service of Queen Anne of Brittany and producing designs for stained glass windows, or woodcuts illustrating printed books. It is possible that the plants and animals were woven from models kept in the tapestry weavers' workshops. The weaving is very meticulous, or even with exquisite technique, but it is not known where the tapestry was produced. They may originate from the weaving looms established in the southern Netherlands, in cities such as Brussels or Tournai, but they could just as much be the work of Parisian weavers.

A feeling of peace and harmony radiates from the six tapestries. We don't see many objects and accessories, whereas the clothing and jewellery are rendered with great attention to detail. Plants and animals are represented everywhere, sometimes stylised, sometimes inspired by close observation.

The series of tapestries has been understood in various ways, in particular depending how the sixth piece may be interpreted. How can one interpret the inscription, featuring the initials A and I either side of the phrase my only desire? Maybe the first names of Antoine Le Viste and his wife Jacqueline? Is the Lady taking a necklace from the box held by the maid, or putting one back? Is it an allegory of the senses and a sixth sense, akin to the soul and heart? Can we interpret these tapestries in a courtly manner, given that the Lady is in a garden where numerous plants and animals allude to the quest for love? Is my only desire a motto? What meaning can we give to the word desire, in a world that is still deeply Christian, but at the threshold of the Renaissance?