The Lady and the Unicorn is the name of a set of six medieval tapestries. Beautiful, intricate and expertly made, they are also mysterious in their origin and meaning. Jean le Viste, a newly wealthy member of the French court, commissions the tapestries to hang in his chÂteau. Nicolas, his chosen designer, meets le Viste’s wife, Genevieve, and his daughter, Claude, both of whom take a keen interest in the tapestries. From Paris, Nicolas moves to a weaver’s workshop in Brussels. The creation of the tapestries brings together people who would not otherwise meet; their lives become entangled, and so do their desires. As they fall in love, are shunned, take revenge, find unrequited love, turn to the church or to pagan ideals, the tapestries become to each an ideal vision of life – yet all discover that they are unable to make this ideal world their own.