The Unicorn in Captivity

Tapestry no. 7: The Unicorn in captivity by petrus.agricola

My recent unicorn musings and sketchings (find here) made me think of the beautiful unicorn tapestries of the Middle Ages. The one above is cited as South Netherlandish although I thought it was French! I was also surprised to find that it's located in NYC! In fact a whole series of unicorn tapestries are on view at The Cloisters an adjunct of The Met in upper Manhattan, if you're in NYC I would definitely venture a journey to see these beauties! I especially love The Unicorn in Captivity, the centrality of the image and the circular composition is odd and especially strong, also reminds me of the facial hair drawing I posted yesterday which has a similar radial composition, hmm may have to experiment...

I also picked up a new book The Value of Nothing by Raj Patel (which also just happens to have a big circle on the cover!) and opens with this quote by Oscar Wilde, "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." An interesting and engaging look at the short-comings and destructiveness of a purely profit-driven economy. Good informative read that helps explain some of the underpinnings of the current state of the economy.

Also note 10% of all sales in my bigcartel shop will be donated to the Animal Relief Coalition in Haiti, find out more at the ASPCA

Enjoy your weekend!

Jamie