An Italian unicorn, in Discours d’Ambroise Paré, Conseiller et Premier Chirurgien du Roy. Asçavoir, de la mumie, de la licorne, des venins, et de la peste.

As long ago as 400 BC, the ancient Greeks were describing the medicinal properties of unicorns. This image of the killing and skinning of the pirassoipi, a twin-horned unicorn, is found in a study by Ambroise Paré, surgeon to the French Crown. Responding to questions from a persistent patient, Paré admitted that he was unconvinced of the unicorn’s medicinal effectiveness. The hunters in this scene have a cruel appearance. As Firenze told Harry in The Philosopher’s Stone, ‘it is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn’. Shown here: ff. 18r