Brown Dots On Ancient Tarots Of Bologna

Actually I changed my mind, going again to look at the Minchiate "carte fine" clearly it is artistic in design.

Perhaps whoever put the dots there drew inspiration from the dots on The Tower card. They are virtually identical with the exception of the dark outline on The Tower dots.

thinbuddha, I like your constellation theory. They are arranged in such a way that it makes you think someone was trying to communicate something.

The idea of etheric energy makes sense, like the "tongues of fire" on the Marseilles cards. Or as a simple device to add depth.

All great ideas!

I have been thinking about this and I think thinbuddha might be right about constellations- The Star very crude attempt within the frame to make it work-Cassiopeia, the same crude attempt on the Ace of Cups- Pisces, and ditto for the Valet de Batons- Leo- all seen from the Northern hemisphere lol. I might have thought Pleiades for the Star but then it should look more beehive lol. ~Rosanne

My first thought was 'foxing' (the appearing of brwon spots when paper deteriorates), but they appear to be placed too neatly to be coincidence. Very interesting! Perhaps these were not intended by the printer, but added later by one of the previous owners?

Anyone know what "ALL'AQUILA" and picture of man holdng a torch on the back of Il Meneghello edition means? Was it on the original card backs?

ALL AQUILA may be a reference to the constellation Aquila, 'the Eagle,' and the person with the torch might be Prometheus. In mythology, it was Aquila who daily tormented Prometheus as punishment by Zeus. It may be some sort of allegorical warning.

The Lo Scarabeo version has the same words but a different design. The Il Meneghello came first (1986), but I don't know which, if either, is original. I looked through the Encyclopedia of Tarot vols. 1 & 2 to see if I could find some pictures but came up empty. Maybe tomorrow I can give it a more thorough search. I have always wondered about this back design myself.

I looked through every page in all four volumes and didn't see any pictures of the original. There are pictures of the Lo Scarabeo version and a description in volume 4, but nothing about the back design.

Prometheus might be it. The figure looks to be in classic Greek garb. I'll post a pic at a later time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-tb

are they moving?
spider mites.

At first I thought the torchbearer might be a reference to the Prometheus myth, but now I'm not so sure. I've been brushing up on eagle symbolism and one thing is clear, it is a solar/spiritual/intellectual symbol. It is also a symbol for victory. Often the symbolism of the eagle and the phoenix are interchangeable. The overall symbolism of this back design, coupled with the words "ALL' AQUILA," seems to represent the eagle in its spiritual and solar aspect. I could be wrong, but that is what it looks like to me. The original deck was published by Giacomo Zoni, so the only other thing I can think of is there might be some connection between this card maker and the symbolism of the eagle. But the only way to know for sure would be to find out if the design is original, about which I have no clue.