Finding the Unicorn: Tapestries Mythical and Modern
Finding the Unicorn: Tapestries Mythical and Modern 17 April to the 1 June 201 An exhibition entitled ‘Finding the Unicorn: Tapestries Mythical and Modern‘ opens at the Fleming Collection this month in London. Based around the medieval Hunt for the Unicorn tapestry series this exhibition will feature the work of West Dean Tapestry Studio and [...]
The Brave Little Tailor and the Unicorn
This old illustration is one of those that has been collated to produce Taschen’s new book The Fairy Tales of the Brother’s Grimm. The little tailor demanded of the King the promised reward; the King, however, repented of his promise, and again bethought himself how he could get rid of the hero. “Before thou receivest [...]
Trans-gendered Unicorns
Cartoon via www.pbfcomics.com Pink Unicorns I came across this little sketch on Twitter earlier. Having been reading up on unicorns and their symbolism for some time now I had gotten lost in the old beliefs about this creature. For centuries the unicorn has been held up as a figure of masculinity.Ancient Greek writers like Ctesias [...]
The Naming of the Animals
The Naming of the animals by Adam from a Dutch bible illuminated c.1440. Adam blesses the unicorn whilst Eve stands behind him in prayer.
The Unicorn from the Stars
FATHER JOHN: Tell me what you have seen where you have been. MARTIN: There were horses … white horses rushing by, with white, shining riders … there was a horse without a rider, and someone caught me up and put me upon him, and we rode away, with the wind, like the wind…. FATHER JOHN: [...]
Eerie Unicorn Photograph
Despite a fairly thorough search I can’t find out anything at all about this image that was sent to me today. It’s a shame as it’s one of the most interesting unicorn related images that I’ve come across for quite some time. I love the creepiness that the image exudes. All I’ve managed to find [...]
The Book of Job (39: 9-11)
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee? Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great? From the 1611 King James’ translation of the Bible.
The Unicorn Artist by Paula Rego
The Unicorn Artist by Paula Rego is one of four editions commissioned by the Curwen Studio to celebrate their 50th Anniversary in 2008. You can watch the Tate Shots video which documents the process that led to the creation of this print below.
John Tenniel’s Through The Looking Glass Illustration
John Tenniel’s illustration for Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass” and “What Alice Found There”, originally published 1871 You can read “The Lion and The Unicorn” from “Through the Looking-Glass” by clicking here.
Unicorn Fr. 1564
I’ve not been able to find much out about this lovely illustration other than that it is French and dates back to 1564.
The Alchemist’s Unicorn
Unicorn – the masculine, penetrating aspect of *Mercurius, the mercurial spirit. The third emblem in The Book of Lambspring shows the unicorn and deer in a forest. The accompanying text identifies the unicorn as the spirit, the deer (*cervus fugitives) as the soul, and the forest (i.e. dark place) as the body of the Stone. [...]
The Raynbow which shall overgoe…
The attainment of the *peacock’s tail stage which occurs after the black *nigredo and heralds the coming of the white *albedo. During the process known as the *ablution, when the cleansing showers of mercurial water descend from the top of of the alembic to purify the blackened body below, a rainbow appears to show that [...]
Kafka and His Precursors
Translated by James E. Irby. I once premeditated making a study of Kafka’s prescursors. At first I had considered him to be as singular as the phoenix of rhetorical praise; after frequenting his pages a bit, I came to think I could recognize his voice, or his practices, in texts from diverse literatures and periods. [...]
The Brave Little Tailor
ONE summer’s morning a little tailor was sitting on his table by the window; he was in good spirits, and sewed with all his might. Then came a peasant woman down the street crying, “Good jams, cheap! Good jams, cheap!” This rang pleasantly in the tailor’s ears; he stretched his delicate head out of the [...]
The Wild Man & The Unicorn
This wonderful image of the Wild Man of the Wood riding a unicorn appears to be an image from a playing card, or tarot card from Germany around the middle of the 15th Century. The Wild Man of the Woods is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable [...]
The Lunar Unicorn & The Solar Lion
“The Unicorn itself is a lunar creature, and as such it constantly fights with the solar lion.” “The lunar unicorn is in perpertual confilst with the solar lion. One of the odlest reports of their antagonism occurs in the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (known as the Septuagint), in which an immense mythic [...]
Horn Mutilation
The following extract is taken from notes written by Francois Levaillant, a French author, explorer and naturalist. I had not yet taken a near view of the horned cattle which (the herdsmen) brought with them, because at the break of the day they strayed to the thickets and pastures, and were not brought back by [...]
The Evolution of Unicorns
The evolution of the two-horned Plioceros type of antelope into the single-horned Monoceros type of modern unicorn is one of the most remarkable facets of mammalian evolution, for only rarely do equally paired anatomical structures disappear to be replaced by a single one. However, in some early unicorns (Plioceros abequalis) the two horns were of [...]
La Dame à la Licorne
The Lady and the Unicorn (French: La Dame à la licorne) is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries woven in Flanders of wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris in the late fifteenth century. The suite, on display in the Musée du Moyen-Âge, is often considered one of the greatest [...]
The Unicorn and the White Doe
Unicorn with bursting heart Breath of love has drawn: On his desolate crags apart, At rumour of dawn, Has blared aloud his pride This long age mute, Lurched his horn from side to side, Lunged with his foot. `Like a storm of sand I run Breaking the desert’s boundaries, I go in hiding from the [...]
Alexander Calder’s Unicorn
This is unicorn that Alexander Calder produced for R. Wilbur’s book A Bestiary. The entire book was illustrated by Calder and features some beautiful illustrations of creatures both real and imaginary alongside a selection of poems and quotes about the beasts.
Temptation
The Temptation of Adam and Eve A woodcut from the Bible published by Antoine Verard, Paris c.1500. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Foure-Footed Beastes
It is sayd that Unicorns above all other creatures, doe reverence Virgines and young Maides, and that many times at the sight of them they growe tame, and come and sleepe beside them, for there is in their nature a certain savor, wherewithall the Unicornes are allured and delighted: for which occasion the Indian and [...]