‘Beautiful and resilient’: exhibition explores cultural history of unicorns

Display will be centrepiece of opening celebrations at the new Perth Museum

Across two millennia, the unicorn has accumulated a wealth of symbolism reflecting the preoccupations of the ages. But two qualities remain consistent – that the fantastical horse-like creature with a single, spiralling horn protruding from its forehead is impossible to capture and that it possesses an extraordinary capacity to heal.

From the Roman author Pliny’s description of a beast with a bellowing roar, through its choice as an emblem of Scottish royalty to its contemporary adoption as an icon of diversity by the LGBTQ+ community, the unicorn is the subject of a major exhibition opening next weekend in Perth.