独角兽在花园里休息（来自独角兽挂毯） - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	独角兽在花园里休息（来自独角兽挂毯）
品名（英）	The Unicorn Rests in a Garden (from the Unicorn Tapestries)
入馆年号	1937年，37.80.6
策展部门	修道院（The Cloisters）
创作者
创作年份	公元 1495 - 公元 1505
创作地区	制造于: 荷兰南部（编织）（Made in: Southern Netherlands (woven)）
分类	纺织品挂毯（Textiles-Tapestries）
尺寸	整体: 144 7/8 x 99 英寸 (368 x 251.5 厘米)
介绍（中）	被称为"独角兽挂毯"的七个单独的悬挂物是中世纪晚期现存的最美丽、最复杂的艺术作品之一。挂毯由精细的羊毛和丝绸与银色和镀金的丝线奢华编织而成，生动地描绘了寻找难以捉摸的神奇独角兽的场景《独角兽在花园里休息》可能是作为一个单一的图像而不是一个系列的一部分创作的。在这种情况下，独角兽可能代表被驯服的心爱之人。他被拴在一棵树上，并被围栏约束，但链条不安全，围栏足够低，可以跳过：如果他愿意，独角兽可以逃跑。然而，很明显，他的禁闭是幸福的，树上成熟的、结满种子的石榴——中世纪生育和婚姻的象征——证明了这一点。他侧翼的红色污渍似乎不是血，因为没有像狩猎系列中那样明显的伤口；相反，它们代表的是从上面爆裂的石榴中滴落的汁液。这里所展示的许多其他植物，如野生兰花、灯心草和蓟，与婚姻和生育的主题相呼应：它们在中世纪被誉为男性和女性的生育辅助物。即使是依偎在右下角紫罗兰中的小青蛙，也因其喧闹的交配而被中世纪作家引用。
介绍（英）	The seven individual hangings known as "The Unicorn Tapestries," are among the most beautiful and complex works of art from the late Middle Ages that survive. Luxuriously woven in fine wool and silk with silver and gilded threads, the tapestries vividly depict scenes associated with a hunt for the elusive, magical unicorn. "The Unicorn Rests in a Garden" may have been created as a single image rather than part of a series. In this instance, the unicorn probably represents the beloved tamed. He is tethered to a tree and constrained by a fence, but the chain is not secure and the fence is low enough to leap over: The unicorn could escape if he wished. Clearly, however, his confinement is a happy one, to which the ripe, seed-laden pomegranates in the tree—a medieval symbol of fertility and marriage—testify. The red stains on his flank do not appear to be blood, as there are no visible wounds like those in the hunting series; rather, they represent juice dripping from bursting pomegranates above. Many of the other plants represented here, such as wild orchid, bistort, and thistle, echo this theme of marriage and procreation: they were acclaimed in the Middle Ages as fertility aids for both men and women. Even the little frog, nestled among the violets at the lower right, was cited by medieval writers for its noisy mating.