Hortus conclusus, the Pomegranate and the secrets of the Unicorn Tapestries

 Hortus Conclusus
Enclosed Garden

Mary is compared to the enclosed or closed garden
as mentioned in the Canticle of Canticles (4:12). This is one of the oldest symbols of Mary's sinlessness and immaculateness. It was included in the Litanies of Loreto. Since Mary's purity is the equivalent of great beauty, it was the custom in the middle ages and later on to design the enclosed garden as paradise garden filled with flowers and aromatic plants. Here, the garden reflects the Renaissance canon of beauty with its penchant for symmetry and geometric proportions. In its midst we discover a tree, probably in reference to the tree of life, meaning Christ Jesus himself.
Mary's love is exclusive. There is room in her heart for Christ alone. Such is the meaning of the enclosed garden. But Jesus is the source of life and love, and thus love springs forth from the heart of Mary and becomes visible and palpable to all who contemplate her enclosed garden, meaning her uniquely dedicated heart.http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/imco_emblems01.html#3

The Hunt of the Unicorn, or the Unicorn Tapestries, is a series of seven tapestries dating from between 1495 and 1505, now in The Cloisters in New York, probably woven in Netherlands. The tapestries show a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a unicorn. The Hunt for the Unicornwas a common theme in late medieval and renaissance works of art and literature. The tapestries were woven in wool, metallic threads, and silk. The vibrant colors, still evident today, were produced from dye plants: weld (yellow), madder (red), and woad (blue).^[1] One of the panels, The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn, only survives in two fragments.
Read more : http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/unicorn.html
and
http://artpassions.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/unicorns-the-unicorn-tapestries-and-the-hunt-for-the-unicorn/

Hunt of the Unicorn Annunciation (ca. 1500) from a Netherlandish Book of Hours. In this example Gideon's fleece is worked in as well, and the altar at the rear has Aaron's rod that miraculously flowered in the centre. Both are types for the Annunciation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hortus_conclusus

A rather rare, late 15th century depiction combines the Annunciation in the hortus conclusus with the Hunt of the Unicorn and Virgin and Unicorn, so popular in secular art. The unicorn already functioned as a symbol of the Incarnation  There is no such ambiguity in the scenes where the archangel Gabriel is shown blowing a horn, as hounds chase the unicorn into the Virgin's arms, and a little Christ Child descends on rays of light from God the Father. The Council of Trent finally banned this somewhat over-elaborated, if charming, depiction,^[19] partly on the grounds of realism, as no one now believed the unicorn to be a real animal. 

"The Unicorn is in Captivity and No Longer Dead"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn

An excerpt from 
The Pomegranate and Secrets of The Unicorn Tapestries
http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/writing.sample7.html
The pomegranate was not only important to these pre-Christian beliefs, but it was also associated with Christ himself. A deep cut into the pomegranate is required to get to its appetizing juice, which many theologians believe mirrors the need to deeply understand the suffering of Christ in order to understand his sacrifice (Freeman 131). Similarly, the red juice of the pomegranate is also associated with the blood of Christ and therefore the Crucifixion (Williamson 102). The pomegranate is also known for its many seeds, which can be symbolic of the church and its abundant and diversified congregation. Similar to this is the pomegranate's association with the Virgin Mary. The many precious seeds represent the gifts Mary offered mankind, the main one being her son, Jesus Christ. The pomegranate is commonly included in statues and paintings depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus, in order to enhance the interpretation of the individual pieces. The pomegranate is used in a similar fashion in the final panel of The Unicorn Tapestries, where the garden scene seems to parallel images of the Garden of Eden. The pomegranate becomes essential in this portrayal because of its supposed snake repellant qualities (Freeman 131). This central tree within the seventh panel can also be seen as a representation of the Judeo-Christian Tree of Life (Williamson 78). Conversely, the unicorn can be seen as Christ on the Cross, as the unicorn is chained to the pomegranate tree in a related way. In the fifteenth century manuscript Somme le Roi there is an illustration that depicts Christ bound to the Tree of Life, which was mean to clearly symbolize the Crucifixion in similar manner. Adding to its religious significance, the Old Testament mentions the pomegranate tree as the only tree allowed in the inner sanctum of the temple, the Holy of Holies. The reason for this was that the fruit was never eaten by insects, and has therefore become a symbol of incorruptibility. Because of this, the pomegranate became an important symbol to Solomon and the building of his temple (Williamson 200-202). The plentiful seeds within the pomegranate were also associated with the guaranteed fruitfulness of the Promised Land (Freeman 131).