Exhibition of one painting. Metamorphoses of Saint Catherine

The Mystery of Boussac Castle

The Medieval Museum of the Abbey of Cluny in Paris houses a series of tapestries, or tapestries, depicting the Lady and the Unicorn. Five of them are believed to represent allegories of the five senses, from which they received their names. The sixth is usually called “À mon seule désir” (“My only desire”), after the motto woven on it.

Who and when created these trellises, which are known today throughout the world? In 1841 they were found in the cellars of the Boussac castle in Creuse. famous writer George Sand. The lower part of the trellises was damaged due to dampness; later the missing parts were supplemented - this is how they can be seen today in the Cluny Museum, where they were brought in 1882.

However, George Sand claimed that there were not six tapestries, but eight. According to her, in the seventh tapestry the Lady was depicted sitting on a richly decorated throne, and in the eighth she was shown caressing two white unicorns.

What do the images on the tapestries symbolize? What is the meaning of these strange animals, flowers, birds, what does the image of the mysterious Lady tell about?

Between a lion and a unicorn

In both the East and the West, the unicorn always pointed to spiritual meaning things, on the path to the transcendental, the sublime, was a symbol of perfect purity. The lion in heraldry represented matter or force, material strength, and the Lady in symbolic iconography has always personified the soul - both one person and the anima mundi, that is, the world soul.

The lady, the soul, is between the lion-matter and the unicorn-spirit, and, looking at the tapestries exhibited in the Cluny Museum, we can learn interesting details about the path that the soul must go through before it learns to dominate matter, the lion, with the help of spirit, unicorn.

Path of the soul

In what order were the tapestries arranged? There are different assumptions about this, personally I would place them like this: “Touch”, “Taste”, “Vision”, “Smell” and “Hearing”. Then a tapestry with the motto "My Only Desire", a tapestry with a Lady on the Throne and finally a tapestry with a Lady and two unicorns. (I note that other researchers propose a different order - “Smell”, “Taste”, “Vision”, “Touch” and “Hearing”.)

This arrangement of tapestries is not arbitrary. It corresponds to the steps that the soul must take in order to rise, to rise from the material to the spiritual: from the most material senses - touch and taste to vision, capable of seeing both the material and the subtle, spiritual, and to the most subtle senses - smell and hearing. The last three tapestries tell about the victory of the soul over matter.

The lady in the tapestries is never depicted in the same outfit - her clothes, hairstyle, and attributes change. As the personification of the soul, she is the axis, the center of all this iconography. She main character conflict between matter and spirit. Therefore, her different hairstyles and headdresses, as well as different dresses and attributes have a clear symbolic meaning, which is not easy to reveal, but can be associated with different states of the soul, with stages of alchemical work. Lady soul is also the duality of our mind: practical, concrete mind and pure reason. The first is inclined, according to Kant, to the hypothetical imperatives of the material world, and the second, on the contrary, to the categorical imperatives of the spiritual world.

Allegories of the Five Senses as an Introduction to the Three latest stories may indicate that the soul must learn to control the feelings that are associated with matter and transform them into the athanora of consciousness, so that through their subtle opposite side it can achieve liberation and gain victory over matter.

“Touch”: decide to fight

In this tapestry the Lady is looking to the right and holding right hand the quadrangular banner of a lion, and with his left hand he clutches the horn of a unicorn. Some researchers see it as a phallic symbol, but here the unicorn's horn indicates the force that directs the soul to the highest. The Lady's gaze is stern and firm, she is full of determination. Perhaps she decided to gain power over matter, despite the fact that the lion from whom she snatched the banner is strong, and despite the heavy chains that bind her waist and symbolize the fetters of matter. The animals depicted in this tapestry are shackled in the same chains. Everything except the birds.

There is a clear hint of battle here as the lion and unicorn carry shields and in the sky a falcon tries to catch a heron. Among the animals we see a monkey. She will also appear on the tapestry “Smell” - when again the Lady needs to make an important decision, when she needs to choose.

"Taste": from chaos to reason

The lion and unicorn wear ceremonial cloaks and both carry banners. Moreover, the lion carries the triangular unicorn flag, and the unicorn carries the quadrangular lion flag. Perhaps this is a hint of the confusion and chaos that reigns in matter. The lady has tamed the falcon we saw in the previous tapestry and is holding it with a falconer's leather glove. The falcon (or parrot, as some commentators have suggested) represents a concrete mind that tends to enjoy the taste of things. The tapestry speaks of taste, but the Lady refused it: she looks at the falcon and from the Grail, which her maid is holding, takes out acorns and gives them to the bird.

This probably means that the Lady is trying to accustom the bird of reason to enjoy more delicious fruits than those that the falcon has been eating so far.

"Sight": to contemplate the highest

The Lion meets the Lady, holding his quadrangular banner, but looking in the other direction. The lady also does not look at the lion, her gaze is fixed on the unicorn; he is reflected in the mirror that she holds in her right hand. She refused to look at the earthly, secular things, and looks only at the unicorn or its reflection.

The mirror can be compared to our mind, which in the previous tapestry was symbolized by the water in the Cup, set in motion because the Lady was getting acorns from there for the falcon. Now that the agitation of the water has calmed down, it has become like a mirror and it reflects those heights that could not be seen before. The falcon flapping its wings can represent the mind in motion, and the smooth surface of the mirror is the mind at rest, which then reflects the unicorn, the spiritual. With her left hand, the Lady hugs the unicorn by the neck.

Using this tapestry you can study chakras (human energy centers in eastern tradition) - this is what some commentators believe. They note that with the Lady’s hand she activates the vital point of the unicorn’s spinal column; the element of her headdress closely resembles a flame and represents the upper chakra; the eye-shaped belt that adorns her waist and emphasizes, in contrast to other tapestries, her large belly, indicates the solar plexus.

The Sight tapestry features a resting unicorn; shows the soul contemplating the spiritual - this can be explained loving look a unicorn and a Lady looking at him.

“Smell”: renounce the material

A maid again appears next to the Lady, who can personify consciousness. The Lady weaves a wreath of flowers, but does not enjoy their scent - they are sniffed by a monkey sitting in a basket to the left of the Lady. The monkey makes us think of Hanuman, the character Indian epic"Ramayana". The monkey king Hanuman helped Rama free Sita (also a symbol of the soul) from the hands of Ravana, who represents matter. In addition, a monkey was depicted on the banner of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. It appears every time a great decision has to be made - to fight or to give up the fight. The monkey can symbolize intuition, the last bridge we have to cross to reach the spirit.

The Lady's waist is wrapped in a thin monastic rope - it indicates her decision to renounce all material things. She is not weaving the wreath for herself: we will never see her in it. This is probably the crown of renunciation and an offering to God. The lion and unicorn are again with shields, and they are again holding banners that are not their own. There is another struggle, and the monkey appears again at the hour of choice.

"Hearing": harmony of spirit

The faces of the Lady and her maid - the soul and her consciousness - are peaceful. They reflect the world of the spirit, as some commentators have noted. This tapestry is also called the “music of the spheres.” Once again the Lady's hairstyle resembles a tongue of flame, and all the animals are freed and resting peacefully. The lion and unicorn, without shields or ceremonial cloaks, hold their own banners. They are also relaxing and definitely smiling. All things are in their places - the decision has been made, and the soul, the Lady, surrenders to the spirit, listening to music.

"À mon seul desir"

All desires of matter are overcome, the soul has only one desire - to achieve Wisdom and unite with the Spirit. The motto “My only desire” is written on the top of the tent, where the Lady can enter as soon as she has completely renounced matter and placed her jewelry in the chest held by her maid. There, in the tent - and this is a symbol of the all-transforming alchemical furnace, athanor - her final transformation will take place. The lion and the unicorn again stand face to face, their banners have again swapped places, but they are naked and they no longer have shields - they do not fight and even both, by mutual agreement, open the canopy of the tent so that the Lady can enter the chambers of transformation. The entire tent is decorated with numerous images of golden flames. The pointed decoration on the Lady's headdress indicates her awakening and the inner light that illuminates her calm face. The maid is wearing a similar headdress, and a dog sits on a pillow next to the lion, perhaps personifying instincts subordinated to reason.

Lost tapestries

The two tapestries that were lost and described by George Sand must tell of the continuation of the process of the ascension of the soul. The lion no longer appears in any of them: the final victory of spirit over matter, light over darkness, has already taken place. And the Lady, the soul, in the atanor of the tent has now been transformed into Sophia, Wisdom itself. In the Lady, who is depicted in the eighth tapestry sitting and stroking two unicorns that stand on either side of her, we could see a symbol of overcoming duality and uniting the soul with the Higher Self - the goal of the long journey of the soul to its heavenly origins.

Middle Island

The action takes place on a small round island. This island is surrounded by flowers and lush vegetation; various domestic and wild animals live on it, which on the first carpets are distrustful or at enmity with each other, and on the last, when the Lady Soul masters her feelings, they coexist in peace and harmony. The transformation ceremony takes place in a special fenced place - in order to develop, the soul needs to limit the area of ​​​​its work.

In addition, this middle island symbolizes the overcoming of opposing principles, reaching equilibrium in the hermaphrodite. Here, not only the lion and the unicorn represent two polarities: domestic and wild animals live on the island, which on the last carpets are no longer afraid of each other. We also find duality in the vegetation: the orange tree and prickly holly are female plants, and holm oak and pine are male. The duality is also maintained in references to aesthetic Eastern and Western models, and this leads us to turn to one of the versions about the origin of the tapestries, associated with the Ottoman Prince Cem. It was he who dreamed of the wedding of East and West.

Wedding of East and West

It is generally accepted that the tapestries were received as a wedding gift by Claude Le Viste, a lady from a famous Lyon family; then they ended up at the Boussac castle, where George Sand saw them. Most likely, they were woven by Flanders craftsmen around 1500, but perhaps based on earlier patterns.

The images show a strong eastern influence. And therefore it is believed that the eight works that became models for French tapestries were woven between 1482 and 1488 by order of Prince Jem (in Europe he was called Zizim), the son of Mohammed II. The prince was very interested secret sciences and dreamed of the union of the Cross and Crescent, or, as he himself said, of the wedding of East and West. It is very likely that the sketch of the sample tapestries was left in the castle of Bourganeff in Creuse, where Prince Jem was kept captive by Pierre d'Aubusson, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Not everyone agrees with this version, but Pierre d'Aubusson, who knew the deep symbolic meaning of the images, he could well have commissioned Flemish craftsmen to make tapestries according to the sketch of Prince Jem, and he could then transport the tapestries to the castle of Boussac.

The series of tapestries “The Lady with the Unicorn” tells us about the wedding of the soul with the spirit, about heavenly hierogamy and suggests that such a unification is possible between people, possible in society, and perhaps the old Alexandrian dream about the community of thought between the East and West.

Centuries pass, but the Lady and the Unicorn on ancient tapestries continue to keep their secret. The mystery of the plan, the mystery of the origin, the mystery symbolic meaning.

for the magazine "Man Without Borders"

In the center of Paris, in Latin Quarter located opposite the Sorbonne State Museum Middle Ages Cluny.

For six months the public did not see one of its most famous exhibits in the museum - a unique series of 6 tapestries called “Lady with a Unicorn”, which has been kept in the museum since 1882.

In 2011, a group of museum experts came to the conclusion that the room where the exhibit is located is poorly ventilated, which created problems with the safety of the masterpiece.

The tapestry was transferred to Japan for restoration as part of Japan's participation in the reconstruction of this museum hall.

This is only the second time in history that the Lady with the Unicorn has left France. The first international trip took place 40 years ago in New York.

The tapestry was discovered in 1841 by the famous French writer Prosper Merimee in the castle of Boussac in the Creuse department. The Lady with the Unicorn was then acquired by Edmond Sommerard, the first director of the Cluny Museum.

The series of six tapestries (wall hangings) are believed to have been created between 1484 and 1500. However, their real name and the author of the tapestries are unknown. The name for the tapestry was given in the 19th century. The tapestries are woven with pennants bearing the coat of arms of the Le Viste family. It is believed that the tapestries belonged to this influential and noble family at the court of Charles VII.

Each of the six tapestries depicts a noble lady in the center, with a unicorn to her left and a lion to her right. According to a 15th century German legend, a ferocious unicorn can only be tamed immaculate virgin. The author superimposes allegorical images on this legend.

According to the most common interpretation, 5 of the 6 tapestries symbolize the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. The largest sixth tapestry, entitled “My Only Desire,” remains the most mysterious. There are many interpretations of the meaning of the last tapestry. Most often it is associated with love, as the only value of the beauty of the soul, capable of taming the passions raging in it.

Exquisite tapestry presents a graceful weave plant motifs, in the style of the so-called millefleur (translated from French as thousands of flowers), in which you can see an extensive bestiary: domestic animals, hares, birds, monkeys, lions, cheetahs and many others.

Since December 18, 2013, “The Lady with the Unicorn” has again appeared before visitors in a special hall of the museum, with the lights dimmed so that one can appreciate the brightness of the colors of the medieval masterpiece.

After reconstruction, the hall turned from a semicircular shape into a rectangular one. The order in which the tapestries are displayed has changed. The tapestry dedicated to touch is now displayed first, and ends with the tapestry dedicated to vision. This arrangement corresponds to the steps that the soul must take in order to rise from the material to the spiritual.

Tapestries "Lady with a Unicorn", praised by many famous writers, as for example, George Sand and Rilke are often called the “La Giaconda” of the Museum of the Middle Ages.

1. “My only wish”

2. “Touch”: decide to fight

3. “Hearing”: harmony of spirit

4. “Taste”: from chaos to reason

5. “Smell”: renounce the material

6. “Sight”: to contemplate the highest

Florentine period of young Raphael

Having studied with Perugino and developed his own style, young Raphael goes to Florence, where presumably in 1504 he appears in the studio of the great Leonardo and sees a portrait of the Mona Lisa. This work produces young painter great impression. He studies carefully technique experienced craftsman, makes sketches from Leonardo’s paintings and begins to work on his technique with even greater persistence. In Florence in 1506-1507. The painting “Lady with a Unicorn” was created. Raphael Santi could not have imagined that several centuries later it would cause discussions and debates about how many changes would happen to it before it was revealed to everyone in its original version. Researchers suggest that the portrait was created from life. Two years later, having already completed the painting “The Lady with the Unicorn,” Raphael will move to Rome forever.

The sophisticated style of the young painter

Only 36 years were allotted to the “divine Sanzio,” as his contemporaries called him, to transform from a gifted child into a true child of the Renaissance, who possessed the gift of an artist, a master of monumental paintings, and an architect. His style captivates with clarity, balance and purity.

Painting “Lady with a Unicorn” by Raphael: description

On the canvas we see a portrait unknown beauty. The composition was clearly created under the influence of Leonardo.

According to the beliefs of that time, it could only be tamed by a girl who had maintained her chastity.

We continue the description of Rafael Santi's painting “Lady with a Unicorn”. The neatly arranged head of golden hair is adorned with a small tiara, which perhaps ties the hair at the back. The Virgin is depicted against the backdrop of a clear, clean sky, where in the distance one can see the low blue hills of Tuscany, in which there is no mystery. The dress with a low neckline and puffy detachable sleeves, a gold chain decoration with a ruby ​​and a drop-shaped pearl, shows that this is a wealthy, elegant noble lady. There is only one oddity that everyone notices: there is not a single ring on the fingers of the unknown woman.

This female image completely harmonious and whole. It is written on transitions of pure and light tones.

Grace and sophistication, as well as the mystery of the soul of this young stranger, are the two main secrets that the portrait hides. This is one of the ideals of beauty for a woman at the beginning of the 16th century.

Who was considered the author?

The history of the portrait is unique. Its authorship was attributed to Perugino, Ghirlandaio and many other painters, but Vasari did not give a description of this work. D. Cantalamesso first began research in 1916. He was the first to doubt the authorship of the painting “Lady with a Unicorn”. They approached its attribution very carefully in the thirties and forties of the last century. It was examined by X-rays. Restoration began in 1935. In the picture before, everyone saw the saint who had a cloak thrown over her shoulders. She even held her hands differently.

The drawing from the Louvre was very helpful, where we see the initial stage of creating the portrait.

Metamorphoses of Saint Catherine

X-rays revealed several layers of later additions, as well as the fact that initially a small dog was sitting in the model’s arms (a symbol of the fidelity of the spouses), which the author himself replaced with a unicorn. This was discovered in 1959, when they examined the work again and found out that in the course of later modifications, the painter himself changed the meaning of the picture from devotion to purity. The painting was badly damaged. Restorers, carefully removing layer by layer, returned the masterpiece to its original appearance.

It is now assumed that the painting went through several stages of work:

• The model holding the dog was less young, and Raphael painted only a lake landscape, the sky and a figure against its background.
• The position of the arms, sleeves, dog, columns were completed by another artist. Perhaps he was close to Leonardo's school.
• Several decades later, the dog became a unicorn, which required rewriting the hands.
• A century later Unknown artist turned this image into Saint Catherine.

It has still not been possible to find out who served as the model. This is the mystery of the portrait.

Exhibition of one painting

The Pushkin Museum put on display the pearl of the Renaissance “Lady with a Unicorn” (painting by Raphael) in 2011. The painting was brought to Russia to commemorate the year of Italian culture and its language in our country. A work rarely leaves its homeland.

R. Vaudre, the head, said that the preparation of the film for travel to Russian Federation It took three months. Initially, a completely sealed container was created. It is in it that the microclimate necessary for the canvas must be preserved. After this, an outer wooden box was made, in which a container was placed, which could not move a single millimeter. The container was brought to Rome airport in a special vehicle and then placed on a government plane for delivery to Moscow.

The Pushkin Museum ensured the safety of the masterpiece by placing it under bulletproof glass.

Experience of mono-exhibitions in Pushkin Museum already exists, since “La Gioconda” was brought there in the 70s. The viewer was given forty-five minutes to view the masterpiece. Queues are, of course, inevitable, but art lovers can't wait to see the painting by Raphael Santi.

The Lady with the Unicorn is a cycle of six French tapestries from the late 15th century, the most famous of the exhibits at the Cluny Museum in Paris. The name of the cycle is arbitrary and arose in the 19th century. George Sand was one of the first to attract public attention to “The Lady with the Unicorn” (the tapestries were kept in the castle of the city of Boussac, Creuse department) and first described them in her novel “Jeanne” (1844).
Other famous French writer, P. Merimee, who served as chief inspector historical monuments France, during the same period, began negotiations on the acquisition of trellises by the state.
Lady with a unicorn. "According to my only wish"

After much delay, the deal was concluded in 1882 and “The Lady with the Unicorn” became the property of the state, immediately entering the Cluny Museum.
A hall specially designated for the masterpiece was inaugurated in 1883. Here the tapestries were exhibited until the Second World War, and subsequently a new hall, allowing them all-round visibility

The images of crescents present in the cycle gave rise to the legend about the loving Turkish prince Zizim, who supposedly ordered this series for the lady of his heart. Zizim, the son of the Turkish Sultan Mohammed II, who fought with France in the second half of the 15th century, was captured and was located near the Brissac castle.
Lady with a unicorn. Hearing.

This version was later rejected and researchers came to the conclusion that the cycle was ordered by the President of the High Tax Court, Jean Le Viste, who died in 1500. There is an assumption that the heroine of the cycle is the real-life Claude Le Viste (on the tapestries there are woven images of pennants with the coat of arms of the Le Viste family - three silver crescents on a blue band), and the tapestries were ordered by her fiancé Jean de Chabanne-Vendenes.

The author of the cardboards on which the trellises were woven is unknown; according to different versions, he could be either the Parisian Jean Perreal (about 1455 - about 1528), or the so-called Master of Anne of Breton.



According to legend, a fierce unicorn can only be tamed by an immaculate maiden - this motif in the Middle Ages sometimes acquired an alchemical, sometimes Christian interpretation. The author of the tapestries superimposes an allegory on this legend. According to the most common interpretation, five of the six compositions symbolize the five senses.
On the “Vision” trellis, the unicorn looks in the mirror, which is held out to him by a seated girl. “Hearing” is symbolized by a lady playing the clavier, “Taste” by a lady absent-mindedly extracting sweets from a bonbonniere.
In “Smell,” the supposed scent of the carnations from which the lady weaves a wreath echoes the scent of the flower that the monkey sniffs. "Touch" symbolizes the lady's touching the unicorn's horn.
Lady with a unicorn. Vision. Fragment


The sixth and largest of the tapestries remains the most mysterious - “According to My Only Desire”, which differs in style from the rest of the cycle.

Here is a picture of a girl putting (and not taking out, as George Sand believed) a necklace into a casket.

From the point of view of modern researchers, we have before us a symbol of rejection of those harmful passions that awaken poorly controlled feelings in a person. It is also possible that the sixth tapestry reflects Jean Gerson’s ideas regarding the “sixth sense,” by which this famous theologian understood the Heart, the center of Love.


Finally, the sixth tapestry could have been influenced by Symphorian Champier’s translation of a fragment from Marsilio Ficino’s “Commentary on Plato’s Symposium,” in which case its title should have been interpreted as follows: “the only thing that I long for is (souls).”

This version, however, is doubtful: the translation dates back to 1503, and the tapestry was most likely woven before 1500



Lady with a unicorn. Taste. Fragment


According to the French researcher Marie-Elisabeth Bruel, the allegorical meaning of the cycle should be sought in “The Romance of the Rose.”
The characters of the first part of the novel, written by Guillaume de Lorris, personifying the various properties of Love, determine the meaning of each of the tapestries: Idleness - “Sight”, Wealth - “Touch”, Sincerity - “Taste”, Joy - “Hearing”, Beauty - “Smell” " Finally, the allegory of Generosity is contained in the sixth tapestry, “According to my only desire”
Lady with a unicorn. Smell. Fragment


George Sand returned to the description of the tapestries she loved so much in her late work, “Diary of a Traveler During the War.” Here is a brief characteristics of three from six tapestries: “According to my only desire”, “Hearing” and “Touch”.
Lady with a unicorn. Touch

"The Lady with the Unicorn" (French: La Dame à la licorne) is one of greatest works medieval European art. This name is given to a series of six tapestries made in Flanders at the end of the 15th century. The author of the cardboards on which the trellises were woven is unknown. It is believed that this could be Parisian artist Jean Perreal, or the so-called "Master of Anne of Brittany".

The contrast of colors - a red background, strongly contrasting with the dark blue island, rich floral decor, magnificent outfits of the lady and her maid - all this is very harmonious and filled with inexplicable poetry. Images of animals are scattered across the red and blue background. They are common in trellises, but rarely so numerous: unicorn, lion, panther, cheetah, wolf, fox, dog, goat, lamb, rabbit, monkey, heron, falcon, magpie, drake or partridge.

For the first time, attention to these tapestries, then kept in the castle of Boussac, was attracted by the famous French writer George Sand described them in his novel Jeanne, published in 1844. Due to unsuitable storage conditions, the lower part was damaged by dampness and later the missing parts had to be supplemented. Another equally famous French writer, Prosper Merimee, who held the post of chief inspector of historical monuments of France, during the same period began negotiations on the acquisition of tapestries by the state. It was only in 1882 that the tapestries took their rightful place in the Musée de Cluny in Paris, where in 1883 a special hall was inaugurated for them.

By the way, later in her article “Walking in Berry” George Sand claimed that she saw not six, but eight trellises. On one, supposedly, a girl sat on a rich throne, and on the other, she caressed two white unicorns. But experts tend to consider this a work of fiction.

The trellises are woven with images of pennants - three silver crescents on a blue band. The presence of crescents gave rise in the romantic 19th century to the legend of Prince Zizim, the son of Mohammed II and the brother of Bayazet, who was captured in Burganeff, in Croesus. He allegedly ordered a series of tapestries for the lady of his heart.

Another version is that the coats of arms belong to the noble family of Le Viste. And the series was commissioned by Jean Le Viste, President of the High Court of Taxation and an influential nobleman at the court of Charles VII. He was one of the first secular people appointed to such a position and, moreover, became one of the most significant characters of the era. And the constant repetition of the coat of arms is apparently intended to emphasize the glory of the person who has achieved honorary regalia.

There is also an opinion that the heroine of the cycle is the real-life Claude le Viste, and the tapestries were ordered by her fiancé Jean de Chabanne-Vendenes. But the coat of arms of the newlywed, according to the rules of heraldry, must be depicted on a divided triangular or quadrangular shield and consist of the heraldry of the husband on the right hand and the father on the left. In fact, we have before us a “full” coat of arms, which can only be male.

Today, five of the tapestries presented in this series are usually interpreted as depictions of the five senses - taste, hearing, sight, smell, and touch. Their initial sequence is unknown and depends on the interpretation of the researcher.

Vision

On this trellis, a kneeling unicorn looks into a mirror held by a lady.

Touch

The young woman's gesture explains the meaning of the scene. She grasped the unicorn's horn with her left hand, while in her right hand she firmly held the flagpole.

Taste

The lady takes sweets from the bowl held by her maid. All her attention is turned to the falcon sitting on her gloved left hand. The monkey at her feet also appears to be gnawing on candy, personifying the allegory. A dog sits on the lady’s train and looks up in the hope that something will fall for her too.

Hearing

Here a lady plays a portable organ, and a maid operates it by inflating the bellows. As with all trellises, the lion is to the right of the lady, and the unicorn is to the left.

Smell

A lady weaves a wreath of flowers that a maid holds in front of her. Nearby is a monkey sniffing a flower.

Let us note, in addition, that the banner and standard here are placed on military spears, completed with pointed tips, which are by no means intended for competitions. From which they concluded that Jean Le Viste, when ordering the series, deliberately allowed ambiguity: not being the scion of an aristocratic family, but passionately wanting to become an aristocrat, he cleverly included spears, banners, standards with his heraldry in the peaceful allegories, as if he were a knight.

According to my only wish ("À Mon Seul Désir")

The title of the sixth part of this cycle is given by the motto that is written above the entrance to the tent. This trellis is the largest, most beautiful and, perhaps, the most mysterious. There is a lot of debate about whether the girl puts the necklace in the chest or, on the contrary, takes it out from there. The interpretation of the plot also depends on the interpretation of this gesture. From the point of view of modern researchers, the necklace is placed in a casket, and this means the renunciation of harmful passions that awaken poorly controlled feelings in a person.