Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art

October 25, 2025 – February 1, 2026

More than any other animal, the unicorn has inspired the imagination. Documented in numerous cultures across centuries, the unicorn appears in Christian and non-European art as well as in science and medicine and invokes a wide range of symbolic meanings. Artistic images of the unicorn invite us to reflect on our understanding of the world, on ambiguities and projections. For the first time, the theme of the unicorn is explored and exhibited in a survey that extends from antiquity to contemporary art.

Attributed to Dario di Giovanni: Virgin with Unicorn (Portrait of Caterina Corner as Allegory of Chastity), ca. 1467–68, Keresztény Múzeum / Christian Museum, Esztergom

The unicorn stood, and still stands, for freedom and indomitability, for purity and innocence, for naturalness and affection. Yet the fascination with the fabulous beast is not new, but goes back centuries, even millennia, and is widespread in many cultures. The story of the unicorn originated in India and spread from there to China; via Persia and Egypt, it arrived in Europe, where it acquired many meanings. Interpreted as a symbol of Christ, the unicorn appeared on numerous altarpieces; as an emblem of chastity, it was often depicted with a young woman, and its horn was reputed to possess miraculous medicinal powers, prompting many apothecaries to name their shops after the mythical animal.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Tizian (1488/90–1576), Kopie nach, Orpheus bezaubert die wilden Tiere, 1562–1601, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Marie Cécile Thijs, courtesy SmithDavidson

Marie Cécile Thijs: White Unicorn, ca. 2015

In the Middle Ages, no one doubted the unicorn’s existence—after all, it was even mentioned in the Bible. Moreover, its marvelous horn was displayed as visible proof in a number of large churches: a long, white, spiraling shaft with a pointed end. Not until the seventeenth century would naturalists prove that in reality, it was the tusk of the narwhal. But even this scientific discovery did nothing to diminish the appeal of the unicorn.

“The unicorn is magical. As a mythical beast, it is a multilayered sign, charged with extraordinary associative energy. Although it is not found in any zoo, it is still ubiquitous—in pop culture, in advertising, and in children’s rooms.”

Michael Philipp, Chief Curator of the Museum Barberini and curator of the exhibition

Image: Jürgen Karpinski

Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art presents around 150 works and objects including the art of Arnold Böcklin, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Baldung Grien, Angela Hampel, Rebecca Horn, René Magritte, Gustave Moreau, Aurélie Nemours, Olaf Nicolai, Joachim Sandrart, Marie Cécile Thijs, and Maerten de Vos. The historical spectrum of exhibited works ranges from the second millennium BC to the present day and encompasses not only paintings and prints, but also sculptures, manuscripts, tapestries, video works, and Kunstkammer objects. Lenders to the exhibition include the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence, the Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden, the Historisches Museum Basel, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Musée du Louvre, Paris, the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

“Many of these works are rarely loaned. We are delighted that our exhibition concept was able to convince over eighty lenders from sixteen countries.”

Ortrud Westheider, Director of the Museum Barberini

Tibetan, One-Horned Gazelle, eighteenth century, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Gift of Eduard von der Heydt

The exhibition Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art explores this fascinating theme in a breadth and depth hitherto unprecedented in a museum context. In so doing, it opens up new art historical perspectives by illustrating how the unicorn functioned symbolically in differing cultural, religious, and scientific contexts over the millennia—and by illuminating iconographical connections and historical transformations that until now have received little attention.

The exhibition was organized in cooperation with the Musée de Cluny and the GrandPalaisRmn, Paris. As its second station, it will be on view at the Musée de Cluny from March 13 to July 12, 2026.

View of the exhibition

“Following the museum Barberini’s meticulous research, it becomes clear that no other mythical creature has been so globally widespread—and remains so omnipresent today—as the unicorn. Once we turn on our inner scanner, unicorns seem to appear everywhere. What’s most astonishing is that we all have a vivid image of this mythical being, even though none of us has ever encountered one … At the Barberini, its existence unfolds in such wondrous ways that one can only marvel at the precious works in which it has hidden itself over the centuries. And so, one leaves with an enchanted gaze—suddenly seeing unicorns everywhere. You only need to look closely, and it will appear somewhere. Only now you understand why.”

art

“Finally, in an extraordinarily bold exhibition, the whole world is meant to recognize: humankind cannot be imagined without the unicorn… No mythical creature is more beloved, none stirs a greater longing. To this day, the unicorn embodies, as Rilke put it, ‘all love for what cannot be proven or grasped, all faith in the worth and reality of what our spirit has created and exalted through the centuries.’ Or, put differently: in the unicorn, art finds both its body and its ideal—the rare and untamed, the free-spirited and unfathomable, and the notion of a force at once strange and healing. The unicorn is origin and future. The unicorn is us.”

ZEIT

"A captivating journey through the realms of superstition and religion, tracing the dawn of natural science and humanity’s struggle to distinguish fact from fiction. Above all, it is a delight to witness how this mythical creature continues to ignite the imagination of artists to this very day."

Weltkunst

“A splendid show — truly spectacular.”

Deutschlandfunk Kultur

“At the Museum Barberini, an impressive exhibition traces the long history of the unicorn — a phenomenon with roots reaching back nearly 4,000 years, and a fascination that endures to this day. … Cleverly and captivatingly conceived, it’s a magical journey through art history.”

Tagesspiegel

"How do you create an exhibition about a creature that doesn’t even exist? By bringing together around 150 works of art — including pieces by Albrecht Dürer, Hans Baldung Grien, Arnold Böcklin, René Magritte, and Rebecca Horn — from major museums such as the Louvre, the Uffizi, the Prado, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as from small, almost overlooked collections, and presenting them in Potsdam. What Chief Curator Michael Philipp has accomplished after six years of research, study, planning, and negotiations with some 80 lending institutions is nothing short of sensational."

Berliner Morgenpost

“For an ‘animal that does not exist,’ yet with the ‘possibility that it might,’ as Rilke once wrote, the unicorn has left behind an astonishing number of real traces—especially in art. At the Museum Barberini, visitors encounter not only those medieval depictions once woven into tapestries, but also later interpretations by artists such as Titian, Böcklin, Magritte, and even contemporary voices like Olaf Nicolai and Angela Hampel. The question is: what are the unicorns of today? At the Barberini, one might just sharpen one’s gaze to begin seeing them.”

tip

“A one-of-a-kind, spectacular show — fabulous.”

MAZ

"The vibrant exhibition at the Museum Barberini feels like a stroll through an enchanted forest — a meeting with humanity’s dreams and nightmares alike… a splendid show… absolutely brilliant!"

Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Reading, Hearing, Viewing

Trailer: Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art

Video