 |
| Enea Vico Antique Statues of Draped Woman and Priestess in the Delle Valle collection, Rome 1541 engraving Hamburger Kunsthalle |
 |
| Enea Vico Antique Statues of Minerva and Draped Woman in the Delle Valle collection, Rome 1541 engraving Hamburger Kunsthalle |
-Rijksmuseum-Amsterdam.jpg) |
| Maarten van Heemskerck Decorative Panel with Pluto ca. 1550-60 oil on panel (grisaille) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
-Rijksmuseum-Amsterdam.jpg) |
| Maarten van Heemskerck Decorative Panel with Neptune ca. 1550-60 oil on panel (grisaille) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
-Biblioteca-Reale-Turin.png) |
| Annibale Carracci Atlante ca. 1596-98 drawing (study for fresco, Palazzo Farnese) Biblioteca Reale, Turin |
-Biblioteca-Reale-Turin.png) |
| Annibale Carracci Atlante ca. 1596-98 drawing (study for fresco, Palazzo Farnese) Biblioteca Reale, Turin |
-Bode-Museum-Berlin.jpg) |
| Anonymous Italian Artist after Pietro Tacca Captive Corsair ca. 1620 bronze statuette Bode Museum, Berlin |
-Bode-Museum-Berlin.jpg) |
| Anonymous Italian Artist after Pietro Tacca Captive Corsair ca. 1620 bronze statuette Bode Museum, Berlin |
 |
| Heinrich Dittmers Académie ca. 1650 drawing Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
 |
| Heinrich Dittmers Académie ca. 1650 drawing Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
 |
| Nicolai Abildgaard Seated Model ca. 1780 drawing Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
 |
| Nicolai Abildgaard Seated Model ca. 1790 drawing National Gallery of Norway, Oslo |
 |
| Gaetano Vascellini Antique and Modern Statues of Gladiators, Giardino di Boboli, Florence 1789 engraving Hamburger Kunsthalle |
 |
| Gaetano Vascellini Antique Statues of Emperor and Philosopher Giardino di Boboli, Florence 1789 engraving Hamburger Kunsthalle |
 |
| Conrad Martin Metz Putti at Play ca. 1810 drawing Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
 |
| Conrad Martin Metz Putti frightened by a Bull ca. 1810 drawing Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
The Unicorn
The true Unicorn is not the white horse of legend,
coaxed by the droplets staining a virgin's blue bodice,
but the corpse-pale Narwhal, with its counter-clockwise swirl
of jousting tooth, heraldic as any animal.
Ground, it could vanquish poison, and in goblets or spoons
rinsed the provender of crowned and syphilitic heads.
That the bulbous asymmetry of its otherwise
coaxed by the droplets staining a virgin's blue bodice,
but the corpse-pale Narwhal, with its counter-clockwise swirl
of jousting tooth, heraldic as any animal.
Ground, it could vanquish poison, and in goblets or spoons
rinsed the provender of crowned and syphilitic heads.
That the bulbous asymmetry of its otherwise
toothless skull should culminate in such a twisted myth!
Armies of Narwhal congregate, like Rhinoceri
Armies of Narwhal congregate, like Rhinoceri
at their sub-Saharan drinking holes, fencing to breathe,
and are pulled by their noses onto the ice. Tokens
and are pulled by their noses onto the ice. Tokens
of love for the sweethearts of Hull whalers, walking canes
and bedsteads, these are the Unicorn's final blazon.
– Caitríona O'Reilly, The Sea Cabinet (2006)