Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Unicorn Tapestries Continued

So Samantha beat me to creating a post about the Unicorn Tapestries, but I would like to elaborate on them a little bit. I had done a presentation on Medieval art and architecture for my World History class, and here's a couple of interesting points about the tapestries.
(Be sure to check them out first on Samantha's link)

1. Some interpret the Unicorn to be a symbol for Jesus Christ.
If you take a look at the series of tapestries, it roughly follows the story of Jesus Christ: the healing/celebration, the persecution, the killing, and the resurrection. And that one seductive-looking lady has been thought to represent Mary Magdalene. The Biblical symbolism of the Unicorn is much like the sanctifying of the stag we read about in Cromwell. And if you think about it, Unicorns are more or less similar to stags, right?

2. The initials A and what looks like a backwards E are hidden in most tapestries.
In the first tapestry, the letters are depicted by tree branches, in the second one, they are decorations on the fountain, and so on. I find the discreet manipulation of nature (in this case branches) to indicate a name very interesting.

I hope this sparks further interest in the Unicorn Tapestries. They're really beautiful.
Manna

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