The Lady and the Unicorn (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Tracy Chevalier
- First Published: 2004
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1490-1492
- Setting: Paris, France, and Brussels, Belgium
- Principal Characters: Nicolas des Innocents, Jean Le Viste, Claude Le Viste, Geneviève de Nanterre, Beatrice, Leon Le Vieux, Georges de la Chapelle, Christine du Sablon, Aliénor de la Chapelle, Philippe de la Tour
- Genres: Long fiction, Romance, medieval
- Subjects: Wives, Mothers, Parents and children, France or French people, Sex or sexuality, Art or artists, Women, Fifteenth century, Belgium or Belgian people, Weaving or weavers
- Locales: Paris, France, Brussels, Belgium
As she does in her previous novels, in The Lady and the Unicorn Tracy Chevalier invents a clever story to explain how a famous work of art came to be made. The art in this case is a fifteenth century series of tapestries, known as the Lady and the Unicorn cycle. Chevalier produces the scant historical record in a note at the end of her text. What is known for certain is that someone in the Le Viste family in Paris commissioned the tapestries; the Le Viste family crest appears among the figures and flowers that adorn each panel. It is also known that the tapestries passed outside...
[The entire page is 1785 words long]
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