Prestel Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art

Take a journey through art history with legend’s most popular creature. The unicorn has stimulated the imagination like no other animal. It has been documented in many cultures for centuries. Fascination with it continues to this day. While it might have been appropriated as a cute toy or pop culture icon, the history of the unicorn as a symbol is profound and multi-layered— in Western and non-European art, in religion and mythology, in literature, natural science, and medicine. Contributions by Adrien Bossard, Béatrice de Chancel-Bardelot, Barbara Drake Boehm, Séverine Lepape, Michael Philipp, Annabelle Ténèze and Stefan Trinks trace the unicorn back to the ancient world, to medieval manuscripts, altarpieces, sculptures, cabinets of curiosities, and tapestries. Since the nineteenth century, artists such as Arnold Böcklin, René Magritte, and Rebecca Horn have rediscovered the mythical creature for themselves. For the first time, this publication presents a comprehensive summary of the unicorn’s artistic journey from the second millennium BCE to the present day, situating it in the context of art and cultural history.