Beyond Belief - Science and the Unicorn

The mythical unicorn has captured imaginations and been the subject of scientific studies for centuries, but when media outlets across the world recently reported that the Loch Ness Centre was hoping NASA might join the search for its legendary monster, no mention was made of Scotland’s equally mysterious national animal.

This special event will explore the fascinating efforts that have been made to document the unicorn’s appearance, localise its habitat and harness its powers through a talk given by Barbara Drake Boehm, Curator Emerita at the Met Cloisters in New York, plus exclusive after-hours access to the Unicorn exhibition at Perth Museum.

Doors open at 6pm for access to the Unicorn exhibition, with the talk starting at 7pm.

Biography:

Dr Barbara Drake Boehm is the Paul and Jill Ruddock Curator emerita of The Met Cloisters. She was curator of the exhibition A Blessing of Unicorns (2013), author of A Blessing of Unicorns for The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (2019) and a contributor to the Potsdam conference on unicorns earlier this year.

Dr Boehm read History and Art History at the University of Aberdeen, graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an honour bestowed by the French government.

Tapestry fragment woven in wool and silk, depicting a unicorn, Flanders, ca.1500.© Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Reproduced with permission.

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