Mixed feelings about this book. I was interested in reading it because of the famed medieval tapestries by the same name. I've never seen them in person but photos of them are just incredible and the craftsmanship involved in creating them absolutely phenomenal. I've never woven anything but it seemed the author had knowledge or researched the process pretty thoroughly. It was a laborious process and done upside down, in mirror image of the finished project. So incredible especially considering the amount of detail involved. These tapestries tell a story using the five senses, which is another amazing aspect. They aren't just beautiful but give the viewer a lot to ponder about the how's and why they were created when looking at the women and scenes depicted in them. I ended the book with huge respect for the master craft of weaving.
I started out thinking the author might have delved more into the Le Viste family, especially the head of the family who would have been the authority who ordered them. Instead very little time was devoted to him ~ was that because little is known & the author didn't want to put suppositions on him?? I wish she'd shown the same constraint with the character she created as the artist behind the tapestries. He was a lothario of the first order and portrayed as the complete opposite to what the unicorn means spiritually. Very little likeable about him except his apparent painting skills.
I'm still deciding if the book does justice to the creation of the tapestries or not? Made that many years ago, their conception is open to interpretation but somehow the book left a more sordid taste about these works of art than I ever expected to feel.
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