Visconti-Sforza Temperance gown and Hebrew?

northsea

In the book for the Medieval Scapini tarot, Art and Arcana, the author Ronald Decker suggests that though tarot and cabala aren't directly connected, the 15th c. Italian tarot artists may have incorporated the Hebrew alphabet in the "syncretic" spirit of the late middle ages. He indicates that the Visconti-Sforza Temperance and Star cards have Hebrew-like lettering on the gowns. My guess is he's referring to the embroidery along the gown's edges at the neckline and gown's bottom.

Rosanne

northsea said:
He indicates that the Visconti-Sforza Temperance and Star cards have Hebrew-like lettering on the gowns. My guess is he's referring to the embroidery along the gown's edges at the neckline and gown's bottom.

Hi Northsea- your guess is right it seems as the main body of of the gowns have 8 rayed star motif. Kaplan notes that the artist who may have been Antonio Cicognaro, did not paint the usual heraldic devices of Visconti or Sforza on the gowns. There does appear to be a Aleph and a Shin but there is also a # sign and a trident type symbol. All in all they remind me more of Astrological talismans
glyphs, than the Hebrew letters. ~Rosanne

northsea

Hi Rosanne, I'm not too sure it's Hebrew letters either. It is curious how the first ten tarot cards coincide with the Cabala though. But that may have been incorporated into tarot later when they assigned numbers to the Marseille decks, or just a coincidence.

frelkins

With all due respect, sometimes I wish Tarot scholars would look at standard art-history texts before they apply mystical meaning to commonplaces.

Any trip to a northern Italian museum to see the illuminated manuscripts and the textiles will show that these kinds of things were common decorative and embroidery motifs of the time. Eight-pointed stars were just a popular graphic image. I recall seeing them as border elements in books in Padua, I think.

These early cards were painted for ladies and gentlemen to gamble with in polite society. I mean they were made for the Paris Hilton-types of that time!

The profoundity comes later, imvho.

Rosanne

Hi frelkins! It was noted by Decker that the sun and star motifs were usual and not occult. With the Medieval Scapini, Scapini has included a mix of traditions in his cards; qabala is just one. I think you will find that most scholars agree with you over the Visconti cards. However, what is often debated is not the origin of the Minors and Courts in the Visconti, but the 22 (I think 20) of the Majors/Atouts. When these two different sets came together to form a playing deck- 56 and 22 = 78, what was that 22 set originally from and for. They could have well been cards that explained the qabala, or maybe Alchemy, or a type of teaching aid. I have difficulty in believing they were originally images depicting the Tree of life/Jewish mysticism, but I can see how it could be seen that way. It was certainly taken as fact a couple of hundred years later. That number 22 was apparent in several schools of thought i.e The 22 chapters of the book of Revelations/Apocalypse. For me the Visconti had 20 original images- the Devil and the Tower missing. It is still a mystery it seems. ~Rosanne

Umbrae

In the Colleoni-Morgan Tarot, the style of Bonifacio
Bembo unifies most of the deck, but his handiwork is
absent from six cards (Strength, Temperance, Star, Moon,
Sun, World). The secondary artist could have been either
an assistant or a successor to Bembo. Bembo died c.1480,
and the anonymous cards are of a style from that time.
They have been carefully studied, but no one has remarked
on a startling feature: Some of the costumes ( the gowns for
Temperance and the Star) are decorated with pseudo-
lettering meant to be archaic Hebrew. The characters have
the dots and strokes typical of real Hebrew, but the literal
results are nonsense. Note that Temperance was a pagan
Virtue adopted by the Christians. Why would a personi-
fication of the Virtue receive a costume embroidered in
ancient Hebrew, whether genuine or counterfeit? Surely the
pseudo-lettering is a visual clue to the conceptual nature of
the Tarot: It is deliberately syncretist, and this syncretism
alludes to the Hebrew alphabet, only partially understood.
Also worth noting are the many stars on the gown of this
Temperance. In ancient and medieval moralizing, the
Virtues are not necessarily tied to any astrological
program. But a star-studded Temperance suggests that the
Tarot’s syncretism, from the very beginning, has combined
a variety of esoteric themes.

Art and Arcana – p32 – Ronald Decker

Decker states there are pseudo-Hebrew lettering, not Hebrew motifs of any sort.

Specifically, along the hems of the garments. I am unable to achieve a suitable scan (but posted the best quality I can achieve), however using a very strong magnifying glass, and a bit of imagination you’d perhaps be able to see these on your own copies. (look left of center for an almost pseudo ayen).

Temperance has the best example. The Star… “not so much”

frelkins

Honestly, Umbrae, it looks more like pseudo-Arabic or Chinese to me. Again, "exotic" themes were popular at the time in all kinds of art. The trumps just don't plausibly have any esoteric origin -- the tarot pack from all reasonable scholarly evidence seems a blend of the two popular games, trionfi and mamluk cards.

Umbrae

frelkins said:
Honestly, Umbrae, it looks more like pseudo-Arabic or Chinese to me. Again, "exotic" themes were popular at the time in all kinds of art. The trumps just don't plausibly have any esoteric origin -- the tarot pack from all reasonable scholarly evidence seems a blend of the two popular games, trionfi and mamluk cards.

I agree. Please remember its Decker that said "pseudo-lettering meant to be archaic Hebrew"

I think it's a real stretch. I'm only providing information to clarify the prior discussion.

frelkins

oh of course, Umbrae. I phrased that clumsily, I didn't mean to make it seem as if I was attributing this argument to you personally. Sorry. I just don't understand why reasonable and charming people cannot be happy with the charming and fascinating true history of the tarot. It is so astonishing and lovely as it is.

That the cards derive from common Western cultural symbols to my mind gives them more power, not less -- it makes them more archetypal and meaningful than if they were some secret stuff. It provides a beautiful link back to historic Italy, to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and is also a reminder of how cultural influences (mamluk) spread even in those times.

That tarot has a "mixed" origin, that it blends the East and West, this seems like such a beautiful and hopeful message to me right now and only adds to the universal validity of tarot symbology!

Rosanne

I can say with some assuredness, and a high power magnifier glass- that these are Greek letters around the hem- there is a ps, G, X,D, Z, L, O for instance (all non capital).
http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/GreekGrammar.html
The artist has done what was typical in the Renaissance and made the images of Classic Greek antiquity style. On the Star card Hem there are 4 dots dice like in design, on the dress is just a design that looks like a a bell with three streams from it. Greek Alphabet on the hem of Temperance for sure- no wonder people thought it might be Hebrew. Thanks Le Pendu for the site with the cards- I am lucky I have a large LCD screen for my computer. ~Rosanne

Visconti-Sforza Temperance gown and Hebrew?

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