Virgin and Unicorn (A Virgin with a Unicorn)

Domenichino painted Virgin and Unicorn around 1604–05, a small mythological or allegorical composition showing the legendary encounter between the unicorn and a virgin — the only human capable of taming the mythical beast. The subject was popular in Renaissance and Baroque art as a symbol of chastity and purity: the unicorn's tamability by a virgin made it an emblem of the supernatural power of innocence. Domenichino's treatment is elegant and precise, the small figures rendered with the classical restraint that characterized his earliest Roman works. The painting reflects the humanist tradition of learned allegory that was central to Roman aristocratic patronage culture in the early seventeenth century.

The graceful figure of the maiden and the mythical unicorn are rendered with Domenichino's characteristic classical precision, the carefully balanced composition reflecting the classical ideals of the Carracci school.