English and foreign books

The hanging of La Dame à la licorne, executed around 1500, owes its fame to the beauty of its compositions, both simple and enigmatic, to the seduction of its colours, to the charm of its female figures accompanied by familiar or fabulous animals, to its background sown with a thousand spring flowers.

The abundant literature that has been devoted to it for nearly two centuries has developed many hypotheses but has also allowed significant advances in the understanding of the six tapestries - Le Toucher, Le Goût, L'Odorat, L'Ouïe, La Vue, Mon seul désir - that compose this admirable hanging.

Five years after the exemplary restoration of this hanging, and on the occasion of the reopening, in July 2018, of part of the rooms of the Cluny Museum, currently under renovation, an exhibition dedicated to the unicorn will shed new light on the major role given to this fabulous animal around 1500 but also on the influence of La Dame on the unicorn from the end of the 19th century to the present day.

This album, reviewed and expanded, offers an updated synthesis to accompany the reader in the discovery and appreciation of this fascinating work.