Charles Vl (Estensi) Originals

This may be old news to some here, but I just recently found these scans. They are some nice images of the Estensi originals so I thought I would post them for anyone who may not have seen them.

Fool
Emperor
Pope
Lovers
Chariot
Justice
Hermit
Fortitude
Hanged Man
Death
Temperance
Tower
Moon
Sun
Judgment
World
Valet

Thanks Abrac!

I LOVE this deck.. it is so beautiful. Sometimes we can get so focused on TdM and the Visconti decks we forget the other rich Tarot traditions.

Thanks for the lovely reminder.. maybe it's time we talked about the "Bologna" pattern a bit?

I looked and looked for pictures of the original cards before I found these. I was starting to wonder if there were any. So I thought I would post them in case someone else might also be looking.

What a beautiful set of cards! Fortitude has to be one of my favorites. What a lovely face she has. Thank you for sharing them, Abrac

LP~

A beautiful deck that deserves more attention. I don't know much about it. I agree that Fortitude is impressive: that figure is so different from Bembo and MiddleAge illumination figures!

Is the tower of this deck the more ancient tower card we know?

BTW, these cards fit well with the theory that the word "Tarot" means "decorated with holes"...see the Chariot for example.
And what about the ax in the Chariot?

Marco

That is one of the earliest, in part dependent on its dating, and why, if one does (closely) date it as from the same period and approximate same area (northern Italy) as the Visconti-type decks, the latter may be fairly be claimed to have possibly lost its Tower card, rather than the card never having been designed.

Still, the 5x14 theory, augmented later, does have its merit.

From memory, by the way, there is a single extent card, also hand-painted and gold-leafed, from the same period but not part of any known set, that I once saw in a museum (and that I did not, stupidly at the time, note!). If I recall, it may even be on display at the Mediaeval Museum in Paris.

ps - I was also trying to recall where else the images are available at good resolution online, and finally tracked it down: