Among other things, the tapestries represent the five senses. Each tapestry is usually referred to by the sense it depicts (Taste, Touch, Smell, Sound, Sight), The sixth tapestry displays the words "À mon seul désir" (meaning: "to my only desire"), whose meaning is obscure, but has been interpreted as representing love or understanding.
The tapestries can be interpreted several ways – as a virgin seducing a unicorn, as a woman renouncing the physical world of the senses for the spiritual world, as the Virgin Mary with Christ. The first is the most popular interpretation, and refers to the old belief that the unicorn is so wild it cannot be tamed, except by a virgin. If she sits in the woods, the unicorn will come and lay its head in her lap.
THE LADY AND THE UNICORN - DESIRE
This tapestry is wider than the others, and has a somewhat different style. The lady stands in front of a tent, across the top of which is written "À Mon Seul Désir" Her maidservant stands to the right, holding open a chest. The lady is placing the necklace she wears in the other tapestries into the chest. To her left is a low bench with bags of coins on it. The unicorn and the lion stand in their normal spots framing the lady while holding onto the pennants.This tapestry has elicited a number of interpretations. One interpretation sees the lady putting the necklace into the chest as a renunciation of the passions aroused by the other senses, and as an assertion of her free will. Another sees the tapestry as representing a sixth sense of understanding. Other various interpretations see the tapestry as representing love or virginity.
