"A Mon Seul Desir" My Only Desire Tapestry

French made, Jacquard woven with relief stitch. Fully lined with rod pocket for hanging.

65% wool with/cotton/rayon/polyester. 

All measurements are approximate.

This tapestry is part of a set of 6 tapestries created in the style of mille-fleurs from designs drawn in Paris around 1500.  The original is housed at the Musée de Cluny  in Paris and is considered one of the greatest works of the middle ages.

A Mon Seul Desir:

A woman stands in a garden before an open tent that bears the phrase "à mon seul desir (My only desire)." The phrase is open to a number of interpretations including "according to my desire/will alone." The woman is flanked by a lion and a unicorn that display the Le Viste coats of arms. She holds a jeweled chain in her veil--the very chain she wears in the accompanying panels in this series. Scholars continue to debate whether she is placing the chain in the casket or taking it from it. This scene is often interpreted as the refusal of temptation, in which the woman renounces the pleasures of the five senses that are depicted in the accompanying panels. Other interpretations consider the woman's virginity as the focus of the work. 

Description source from Wikimedia Commons.