Exhibition Tip: Unicorn Exhibition until February 1, 2026 at the Museum Barberini
"Unicorn. The Mythical Beast in Art" – the exhibition makes a groundbreaking contribution to the exploration of mythical motifs in art and their reception throughout the centuries - the exhibition concept convinced over 80 lenders from 16 countries
The exhibition "Unicorn. The Mythical Beast in Art" is on display until February 1, 2026 at the Museum Barberini – Alter Markt, Humboldtstraße 5–6, Potsdam (Mon, Wed–Sun: 10 am–7 pm, closed Tuesdays). A 400-page catalog has been published to accompany the exhibition! (ENGLISH, ITALIANO, DEUTSCH )
Berlin – Potsdam is always worth a visit! Here, visitors from all over the world can experience art, culture, and history. In addition to the historic city, numerous palaces, and the expansive gardens of the former royal residence, the idyllic Havel lake district is a major attraction. And the Museum Barbarini at the Old Market Square regularly presents fantastic exhibitions: currently on display is "Unicorn. The Mythical Beast in Art" – until February 1, 2026. Like no other animal, the unicorn has captured the imagination. It has been documented in many cultures for centuries. The unicorn's presence is evident in Christian and non-European art, in natural science and medicine, and in a diverse symbolism. Engaging with the iconography of the unicorn invites reflection on world knowledge, ambivalences, and projections. For the first time, this theme has been explored and exhibited comprehensively, from antiquity to contemporary art. The curators collaborated with the Musée de Cluny and the Grand Palais in Paris for this project.
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| COVER: (German Catalogue) - UNICORN . THE MYTHICAL BEAST IN ART . Catalog . Englisch - autor: Publ. Ortrud Westheider - English |
The exhibition Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art
150 works and objects are on display in Potsdam, including pieces by 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 exhibits illustrate a period from the second millennium BC to the present day—in addition to paintings and prints, sculptures, manuscripts, tapestries, video works, and cabinet objects are also presented.
The lenders to the exhibition "Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art"
include the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; the Uffizi Gallery, Florence; the Green Vault, Dresden; the Historical Museum Basel; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Louvre Museum, Paris; the Prado Museum, Madrid; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The unicorn stood and still stands for freedom and untamed spirit, for purity and innocence, for naturalness and affection.
The story of the unicorn originated in India, from where it spread to China and—via Persia and Egypt—to Europe.
Here, the unicorn acquired many meanings: It was considered a symbol of Christ, which is why it was depicted in many altarpieces; it was seen as a symbol of chastity and was often painted with a young woman; and its horn was said to possess miraculous medicinal powers, which is why many pharmacies were named after the unicorn.
In the Middle Ages, no one doubted the existence of the unicorn, since it also appeared in the Bible.
Furthermore, there was the miraculous unicorn horn, displayed in some large churches, as visible proof: a long, white, spirally twisted rod that tapers to a point at the top.
It wasn't until the 17th century that naturalists were able to prove that it was a narwhal tooth. ... But even this scientific discovery could not diminish the unicorn's allure.
"The unicorn is magical. The mythical creature is a multifaceted symbol that emanates a special associative energy. It cannot be seen as a living animal in any zoo, yet it is omnipresent—in pop culture, in advertising, and in children's bedrooms," explains Michael Philipp, chief curator of the Museum Barberini and curator of the exhibition. "The single horn on its forehead, which no other four-legged animal possesses, is considered a sign of its chosen status. It portrays the unicorn as something extraordinary, belonging to a world other than the everyday one. This supernatural status, its distant familiarity, makes it a projection screen for longings and ideals, which are fed by traditional stories and images."
Artworks from Maerten de Vos to Rebecca Horn
The extensive exhibition at the Museum Barberini features the monumental painting by Maerten de Vos, who in 1572 portrayed a unicorn as a powerful, battle-ready figure (State Palaces, Gardens and Art Collections of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwerin), as well as an 18th-century sculpture of a kneeling unicorn from Tibet, originally from a Buddhist temple (Museum Rietberg, Zurich).
On a 13th-century Persian tile, the unicorn battles the elephant (National Museums in Berlin, Museum of Islamic Art), and on a tapestry from around 1625, it fights lions and panthers (Adornes Estate, Bruges).
...`` But there is also hunting – Alexander the Great, as a manuscript from the 13th century shows, fights against an entire army of unicorns (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett), and in an altarpiece from about 1480 the Archangel Gabriel chases the unicorn to the Virgin Mary (Erfurt Cathedral).
On display is the large horn of the unicorn from St. Denis, which was famous in the Middle Ages and visited by many pilgrims (Musée de Cluny, Paris), as well as old apothecary jars for medicinal unicorn powder (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg; Deutsches Apotheken-Museum, Heidelberg).
Around 1533, Hans Baldung Grien painted the unicorn with other creatures in Paradise (Angermuseum, Erfurt), and in 1650, Paulus Potter incorporated it into the legend of Orpheus, who tamed the wild beasts (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).
Printed travelogues tell of alleged unicorn sightings, and natural scientists like Conrad Gessner studied the animal (both in the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation).
Precious ivory or silver art vessels from the 16th and 17th centuries celebrate the beautiful animal (e.g., the Green Vault, Dresden State Art Collections).
The extent to which the unicorn has become a symbol of creative imagination for artists since the 19th century is demonstrated by works from
- Arnold Böcklin (Bavarian State Painting Collections – Schack Collection, Munich; National Museum in Poznań, Poznań)
- and Arthur B. Davies, who depicted a fairytale landscape with four unicorns around 1906 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York),
- to Alfred Kubin (Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg)
- and René Magritte (private collection), and Rebecca Horn (Tate, London).
The artistic inspiration of the unicorn continues to this day, for example in the photographs of Marie Cécile Thijs, video works by Maïder Fortuné, and sculptures by Olaf Nicolai.
The exhibition brings together around 150 works spanning approximately 4,000 years in nine galleries of the museum, including paintings, drawings, prints, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, and tapestries.
“Many of these works are rarely loaned out,” says Ortrud Westheider, Director of the Museum Barberini. “We are delighted that our exhibition concept convinced over 80 lenders from 16 countries.”
Lenders include:
- the Albertina, Vienna, the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford,
- the Uffizi Gallery, Florence,
- the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg,
- the Green Vault of the Dresden State Art Collections,
- the Historical Museum Basel,
- the National Library of Belgium, The Hague,
- the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna,
- the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
- the Louvre Museum, Paris,
- the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels,
- the Prado Museum, Madrid,
- the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,
- the Szépmušvészeti Múzeum, Budapest,
- and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The exhibition
Unicorn: The Mythical Creature in Art
on view until February 1, 2026
This comprehensive exhibition significantly advances the study of mythical motifs. From various art historical perspectives, the unicorn motif is examined culturally, religiously, and scientifically. For millennia, this motif has held symbolic significance in sagas and legends.
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| Cover Catalogue - at /barberini-shop.de |
Exhibition catalog:
Unicorn: The Mythical Creature in Art
- 400-page catalog (Prestel Verlag, Munich)
The exhibition publication analyzes written sources and interprets them within their respective historical contexts. The individual images and artworks are compared with source texts by ancient writers, Christian theologians, and also by natural scientists and physicians of the early modern period.
It includes texts by travelers and naturalists, compilers, monks, physicians, and poets from 400 BCE to Rainer Maria Rilke and Umberto Eco.
The catalogue includes essays by
- Adrien Bossard (Nice),
- Béatrice de Chancel-Bardelot (Paris),
- Barbara Drake Boehm (New York),
- Michael Philipp (Potsdam),
- Annabelle Ténèze (Lens),
- and Stefan Trinks (Berlin).
“The intensive scholarly research and the textual sources gathered in the catalogue offer new perspectives for art historical research and demonstrate how the mythical creature served as a projection screen for collective ideas and cultural narratives,” explains Ortrud Westheider, Director of the Museum Barberini. “The exhibition thus makes a groundbreaking contribution to the study of mythical motifs in art and their reception throughout the centuries.”
The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Musée de Cluny and the Grand Palais, Paris.
At the Musée de Cluny, the show is the second stop on the tour.
March 13 to July 12, 2026
Exhibition tip:
"Unicorn. The Mythical Creature in Art"
is on display at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam until February 1, 2026.
Alter Markt
Potsdam
Opening hours
Museum Barberini
Humboldtstr. 5–6Alter Markt
Potsdam
Opening hours
- Mon, Wed–Sun: 10 am–7 pm
- Closed Tuesdays
Information and sound bites: Press release from the Museum Barberini - Potsdam
