Pretty medieval manuscript of the day depicts the demise of a unicorn, sometimes thought to be an allegory for the passion of Christ. Here, the unicorn lies passive in the arms of a virgin whilst the brutal knight spears it.
The book is a collection of theological texts compiled during the thirteenth century. It is now in the collections of the British Library in London.
Image source: British Library MS Harley 3244. Image declared as public domain on the British Library website.
Miniature of a unicorn, in Philes, De natura animalium (France, 16th century): London, British Library, MS Burney 97, f. 18r.
Unicorn as watermark saec. XV (KB Den Haag)
Royal 10 E IV ff. 4-314
Edited by Raymund of Peñafort, with gloss of Bernard of Parma, Decretals of Gregory IX with glossa ordinaria (the ‘Smithfield Decretals’)
France, S. (Toulouse?); Last quarter of the 13th century or 1st quarter of the 14th century
Detail of a bas-de-page scene of a fight between a unicorn and two bears.
St. Mary and unicorn, saec. XV - http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:2-18269
British Armorial Bindings http://armorial.library.utoronto.ca/
The Lady and the Unicorn 1/6 - Taste
The lady is taking sweets from a dish held by a maidservant. Her eyes are on a parakeet on her upheld left hand. The lion and the unicorn are both standing on their hind legs reaching up to pennants that frame the lady on either side. The monkey is at her feet, eating one of the sweetmeats.
