A visual index · Unicorn Tapestry
Look closer at the tapestries
A portfolio of our published guides to historic tapestry objects, their details, and the people who made them.
These are museum-held works, not artworks made or owned by this publication. Choose an image to read its guide; image sources and rights are noted below each one.
Collection 01 / New York · The Met Cloisters
The Hunt of the Unicorn
Follow the surviving scenes from the hunters entering the woods to the unicorn enclosed in a garden. Each guide starts with what is visible, then asks what the evidence can tell us.
Collection 02 / Paris · Musée de Cluny
The Lady and the Unicorn
A separate six-piece cycle invites a different kind of looking: the senses, the animals, and the enigmatic final panel. Compare the details without treating every symbol as a settled answer.
Wellcome Collection · CC BY 4.0 Beyond the image · The making
Behind every thread
Cartoons, looms, wool, silk, dyes, and skilled hands made these immense surfaces possible. Start with the process, then follow the objects into museums and modern reproduction.
How tapestries were madeFor full attribution and reuse information, see our image rights and credits. Browse all guides for more scenes and close readings.