For those interested in the deck who don't yet have it here is a small excerpt from the lwb:
"Giovanni Vacchetta was born in Cuneo in 1863 and passed away in Fossano in 1940. He became "Master of Design" at Albertina Academy in Turin and subsequently professor of embellishment at the Industrial Museum in Turin.....
Artistically, the Tarot reflects his thoughts through unique care for details and expression. His attempt to contextualize the subjects of the cards using scenes and events, often tying them to everyday objects or minor art...
The original deck by Giovanni Vacchetta constitutes a very important moment in the history of the Tarot, even though it had an extremely localized distribution in Northern Italy and was not linked (at least not apparently) with any esoteric descipline.
This deck demonstrates how the idea and need to introduce allegorical development into the Minor Arcana did not come about in 1910 with the work by Pamela Colman Smith and Arthur Edward Waite, but was actually prior to this and 'consistent with the times".
I hope this little snippet encourages interest in this beautiful deck. The little bit of history together with Michela Gaudenzi's subtle colouring, makes this a deck which I consider a great addition for all modern readers and collectors, and for its place in History. I have read with it a few times but more often it sends me off on researches to try and discover more of its secrets.
Its worth re-posting Cerulean's link to Pollet's site showing the images by Jost Amman, these really do look similar to the artwork on the cards to me:
http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards66.htm
There is also another recent thread which talks about the Vacchetta and of particular interest to me was the observations by ihcoyc and Kwaw regarding biblical characters:
Italian Decks