The Museum of the Middle Ages in Paris is running a special exhibition on unicorns.
Barthélémy l’Anglais, Livre des propriétés des choses BNF Français 216 f. 285r
While I was there, a teacher was explaining to a group of 7- and 8-year-olds how unicorns were hunted: “A young woman, who’d never had a baby, and who was … very nice and very pure…” OK, she should have planned ahead about how to dodge a discussion of virginity here, but I thought it was a good save. Alas, she then continued, “… sits down in the forest, and the unicorn would come lay its head in her lap. Then the hunter would come out of hiding and grab it to take its horn.”
The children all looked at each other. The bravest one spoke up: “Well, she’s not very nice, then!” Euphemisms always get me into trouble, too.
The exhibit also amused the children with this sculpture, the attitude of which explains why unicorns don’t come around much anymore. I shall quit blaming the scientific revolution.
“Unicorn Droppings”, by Sophie Lecomte
Jeff Snider
Cluny is perhaps most famous for its tapestries, which millions of children have looked at without noticing that the animal has cloven hooves and a goat’s beard, so
you show an interesting illustration, a very early (c 1500) depiction of a unicorn as a “horse” instead of a “goat” with a horn. Any earlier copies of De Proprietatibus rerum that I can find online show it as the traditional smaller goatlike animal.
https://wikivisually.com/wiki/File:Barthelemylic.jpg
Medieval copyists being notable in their reluctance to innovate, I wonder where the idea that a unicorn was more horse than goat began.
Joe
According to the exhibit, in the twentieth century. I don’t think I’m being too cynical when I attribute the transformation to the probability that little girls will prod their parents into buying more hippomorphic merchandise.