Abstract
Pictorial narrative relies heavily on the viewer interpreting the interrelation of pictorial elements. In how far is this process different from reading a diagram? And what are the clues that direct the recipient’s method of generating meaning? This essay discusses these questions by means of a paradigmatic analysis of a German linen embroidery from around 1500 displaying the ›Hunt of the Unicorn in the hortus conclusus‹. A ›close reading‹ of the embroidery shows how the narrative and the diagrammatic modes are interwoven and in what way the design of the embroidery uses these modes in comparison to similar objects. The essay argues that the narrative and the diagrammatic mode each evoke different kinds of spaces. However, it depends on the prior knowledge of the recipient whether he chooses the narrative or the diagrammatic mode as an approach to the artwork.
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