Cloisters Millefleurs Neckerchief*The Met Store Online

An art scarf inspired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The French term “millefleurs,” which translates to “thousand flowers,” refers to a densely packed background of plants and blossoms. The close tangle of flowering plants on this lush neckerchief comes from the millefleurs backdrop in The Unicorn Rests in a Garden (1495–1505), a remarkable French and South Netherlandish textile at The Met Cloisters. This beloved medieval masterwork may have been created as a single image, though it’s considered one of the seven so-called Unicorn Tapestries, which are among the most impressive extant artworks from the late Middle Ages. The unicorn likely signifies tamed love, as the pomegranate tree to which the creature is loosely tethered symbolizes marriage and fertility. Many of the plants…See More