A painting of Hades and Persephone, and tarot.

My best friend is in the planning stages of a painting of Persephone and Hades, and wants to include tarot cards. Stay with me, as I describe the painting, then you tell me what three cards would be appropriate, and furthermore, what deck?

This is the middle painting of a triptych, representing their union.

You're looking at a scene of Hades and Persephone making love, through the mirror of a vanity table. The vanity mirror is high and arched, and bordered in ebony, and there will be symbolic objects, including three tarot cards, arranged on the tabletop. She is astride Hades, and her face is turned slightly away from us. Think of the tale of Hades and Persephone, light and dark, warm and cold, life and death, etc etc all opposing factors, here.

Also, the viewer is meant to feel shocked, as though you accidentally stumbled across a couple in an intimate moment, the artist even wants to make you feel uncomfortable, like you caught your parents (your divine parents!). He is using the iconic figures of Hades and Persephone, but he's representing the Divine Union, here.

Now, you tell me. What three cards? What deck, even?

Just off the top of my head, the Empress and Death. Not sure of the 3rd- which I'd place in between. But I think each card would be from a different deck. Off to browse through albideuter.de!

Empress- Shadowscapes, Secret or Reflections?

Death- Anna K, New Palladini, or Universal Fantasy?

2 of Cups- Mystic Dreamer, Tarot of the Ages, Via?

Wow! This sounds a fascinating project! One that I would simply love to see.

Surely one card would have to be the High Priestess from the Mythic Tarot by Juliet Sharman-Burke & Liz Greene - since it specifically shows Persephone leaving the upper world of light to go down to Hades.
I personally prefer the original version picture by Tricia Newell, since Persephone is drawn so innocently as she slowly descends into the Underworld with her white dress & lilies of purity.
I'm considering other suggestions ...

... The Lovers, the Hermit, the Star, the Wheel of Fortune (spinner of Fate on the Silver Wheel) from the Llewellyn Tarot by Anne-Marie Ferguson - all have a very evocative, dark-&-light, far-away-&-long-ago quality that I find deeply compelling in a most mysterious way.
I'd love to see the picture! Either when complete or in progress, if your friend wishes to share & get comments?

Thanks for the replies so far, I'm writing them all down, and I think we're gonna spend time with the decks, and online representations of the ones I down't own, and see what works.

He's already working on the first painting, of just Hades at the pinnacle of his loss, just after he loses her. I'll ask him if I can post pictures, of that, for starters. The one relevant to this thread is just in the planning phases, he hasn't even stretched a canvas for it.

Please keep the suggestions coming, I am sincerely interested in hearing your answers. He's already thought of three cards, very personal to himself, with The Fool, The Tower, and Temperance, but it's just the rough idea. I asked him if I could bring the question here, for more ideas, and for the sake of discussion. I really appreciate any insight.

A few images...Mitelli's Tarocchino...

Here's a Greek image:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Persephone_Hades_BM_Vase_E82.jpg
I included a rather restful-looking Greek Vase image snapshot in the attached image link...the rest are Mitelli images.

It is likely not your friend's painting, nor the classic Greek version, but I would say my own quirky tale--and if someone is going to add tarot from the Renaissance to the modern age, a boudoir triple mirror vision of the Neoclassical age and a bright, modern intent to shock...I would like to add 'old looking' cards. For some reason, I would add to my scene some quirky detail, perhaps have Greek vase images of Hades and Persphone and then almost Rennaissance-to-Romanticism style tarot cards also in the decor of scenary

1. I would have Hades' with a face rimmed into Luciferian light, beauty and surprise - hmm...he could be either a recreated Devil or Tower card on the side above the mirror he is nearest. (For instance, if he was on the right, the right card nearest the right side mirror would be nearest to him.) As a visual touch, the face of the man falling in the Tower card could be similar to his....if you want a 'neoclassical' look, I think the large Mitelli "Devil" in his handsome sturdy maturity is worth a look...see downloaded link of black and white cards at end of number 3 suggestion.

2. I would see Persphone's face in her dark Kore (maiden) aspect with a face devoid of emotion, except for her eyes--what she knows....perhaps an artistically recreated Visconti Bianca-Maria chariot card or Mitelli Venus of the cart. (If she was on the left in the picture, perhaps the leftmost card near the left mirror side would reflect her posture and look to the viewer).
There's a Mitelli Venus/Chariot figure...see download link...

3. And the card in the middle and nearest the centermost mirror image might show a Visconti Two of Cups or Ace of Cups with "Amor" written... or how about a Mitelli blindfolded cupid? If there was some veiling or curtained panel that discreetly showed sihouettes...or just by looking at the faces and some discreetly veiled silhouetting of the actual female and male, it is quite likely an adult viewer knows exactly what is happening...anyway, with the Mitelli theme, Amor is pictured...the blindfold cupid...

http://www.themysticeye.com/pics/mitelli.htm


It's a fun think if anyone was to make a sketch/painting...good luck to your friend's creative project. I'm certain others have great suggestions for more modern decks.

I would use the high priestess -- because she knows the mysteries of the underworld but yet lives above for many months of the year... and the devil..... because she does enjoy being with him and the carnal knowledge..... and the world - because she does have the world doesn't she? Those are the three I would pick

You said that the first painting will be Hades just after he looses Persephone, do you mean that that is first in the tryptich or the first one he will paint?
You've described two of them, what will be in the third?

If the cards are a detail in a larger painting choosing something simple and graphic will have more impact than a complex image like the Shadowscapes cards. Images from a deck like the Waite-Smith, Marseilles, or even the Visconti will be easily recognizeable as tarot cards even by people unfamiliar with a large range of decks. There may be less of a copyright issue with these as well. If one or two of the chosen cards are minors, using pips will give an element of mystery, people will have to figure it out.

I would probably go with the Visconti deck and choose the Lovers as one of the cards. It depicts a marriage and that fits with the theme of Divine Union.

The Lovers, the Devil, the Wheel of fortune....perhaps RWS....sounds like an amazing piece of art...Bel

Excellent, all excellent ideas. We're still talking about it, and researching different cards. The idea of very old cards is a great one, so we're looking at the Visconti and Mitelli's work. But still largely undecided.

Cerulean, your ideas for the cards, and for including the classical vase image are both excellent. He really likes both ideas, and means to try them.

If it's not too out of line with the forum, I'll post a picture of the first painting later. It is the one of just Hades, and it should give you a feel for the setting and his style. He's sitting right next to me working on it, as I type this. I'll take a picture of it, and post it, when he's finished for the day.