Terrific Tapestries

There is a great tapestry hall in the Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella near Stresa, Italy. There are six enormous works, called the Unicorn Collection because they feature the unicorns in many scenes. The animal appears on the coat of arms of the family and represents its virtue. These extraordinary textiles were made by Flemish tapestry artists from Brussels in the mid-16th century. The tapestries are allegorical. They often show leopards, which were known by their Latin name, panthera. Pan-thera means ‘to take everything’ and was understood as a allegory of Christ by medieval theologians. Leopards went after nasty animals, like dragons. This one seems to be eyeing a lizard on the right, growling at him lest he think of bothering the little panther nursing and just visible beneath the mother’s body.