The Hunt of the Unicorn
A tapestry masterpiece, the last panel of The Hunt of the Unicorn, preserved in the Cloisters Museum in New York. It dates from the beginning of Francis I's reign.
This is a long cycle devoted to the story of the hunt and capture of the unicorn, the symbol of purity and perfection.
The last panel shows the unicorn resuscitated and captive. The artist has arranged the unicorn's captivity: a sealed enclosure, strewn with flowers and enlivened by trees, in other words, a garden.
It symbolizes everything I told you about, that is, that the garden is the spot which contains the symbol or, even better, the symbols.
That is what you must see in the gardens we are going to visit. A place whose symbolic and educational impact, not to mention its initiatory impact, is immense, very strong and very present.
The garden contains the unicorn.
That was the goal of Renaissance gardens.
