The unicorn, a fable horse?
That white horse, endowed with a horn in the middle of his forehead, makes rivers of ink flow since the Middle Ages. Naturalists of the seventeenth century believed firmly in their existence, as Bartholin recounted it, in 1645, in the Unicornu Observationes novae . It was time to wait until the beginning of the 19th century to place the unicorn definitively in the category of fabulous animals. Although today it has lost its symbolism linked to grace and purity, it is still a figure of pop culture, usually present in the novels of Heroic Fantasy or, with multi-colored mane, in illustrations for young people.
This myth is very present in the collective unconscious. He has fertilized for example precepts of analytical psychology developed by Carl Gustav Jung. This Swiss psychiatrist even devoted a whole chapter to his essay Psychology and Alchemy.
See more:
- Books (Advanced search / theme / unicorn):
- The Cluny Museum presents an exhibition on unicorns until February 25, 2019
