Brisca ?

tarotbear

I came across this picture in a magazine and it says the woman ("Madama") in this Cuban painting is holding a card from 'the Spanish game of Brisca, indicating the long shadow of European colonialism.'

I looked up 'Brisca' and found this link:http://www.playbriscas.com/

Sure looks like Tarot to me! If you can get through the commercial that preceeds the game, it comes with rules.

Any ideas?
 

Attachments

  • Brisca.jpg
    Brisca.jpg
    68.1 KB · Views: 546

nisaba

There don't seem to be any Majors (in the few minutes I played the game before I got bored). Thus, to me they look more like the regular playing cards that Italian friends of mine insist are used daily all over the country: "Scuppa" or "Scuppi" cards, what us less-imaginative-than-Italians have dumbed down into regular playing cards.

I could be horribly wrong about the online game having no majors - I was only on it for a very brief time.
 

tarotbear

There don't seem to be any Majors (in the few minutes I played the game before I got bored). Thus, to me they look more like the regular playing cards that Italian friends of mine insist are used daily all over the country: "Scuppa" or "Scuppi" cards, what us less-imaginative-than-Italians have dumbed down into regular playing cards.

I could be horribly wrong about the online game having no majors - I was only on it for a very brief time.

It says it has 40 cards, including King, Horse, and Jack ... but the suits are the same!
 

Trogon

Wikipedia has this; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briscola

It uses the same deck as Scopa; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopa

As you noted Tarotbear, it is a 40-card deck. There are no "Major Arcana" as it is not a Tarot deck. I actually love playing Scopa, there is an on-line version which is good as there are not many folks around here that play it. In fact only wife and I are the only ones that I know of. :laugh: The deck is 4 suits (coins, swords, cups and batons) which run from Ace to 7, with 3 suit cards.

Here's the type of cards that I have; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scopa.jpg

Briscola sounds like a similar game. Though actually, after reading the Wikipedia article, I'm thinking it's more like spades or euchre.
 

tarotbear

Well, you have to admit that when you see a painting of a woman holding a 'Three of Cups' card it gets you wondering, particularly when that woman has been designated as some type of religious practitioner. Cartomancy is cartomancy.
 

Debra

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes a playing card is just a playing card. That gal has a cigar and a playing card.
 

tarotbear

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes a playing card is just a playing card. That gal has a cigar and a playing card.

The description for the picture {Article: Meet the Madama - the worldly and the mystical powers of Caribbean women} reads:

"One key image, with provocative aspects of it's own, portrays an iconic Madama with a cigar. The painting comes from Cuba, but [the show curator] describes it as a multicultural mix in which 'everything means something.' The white dress means purity. The red kerchief and colorful beaded jewelry represent different dieties relating to the West African origins and New World religious practices of Santeria.

The Madama holds up a card from the Spanish game of Brisca, indicating the long shadow of European colonialism. The cigar connects to the indigenous Taino and Carib people's cultivation of tobacco, and the flower in her head tie is traditionally associated with rituals for fertility, love, money, and luck. 'Cultural blend is what she represents,' says the show curator, noting that centuries of mixing and mingling created the various cultures of the Caribbean.

Given all this cultural mingling, it is important to consider the context. That cigar, for example, is not a challenge to gender stereotyping, but as tobacco, symbolizes a link in the slave trade between Africa and America. Also, the curator says, the cigar is a tribute to the gods and cigar smoke is a ritual offering, suggesting possible kindship with the northern Native American ceremonial peace pipe. Thus the cigar emphasizes the religious role of this particular Madama."
 

Debra

LOL, take that, Dr. Freud, and your little dog, too!
 

conurelover

I came across this picture in a magazine and it says the woman ("Madama") in this Cuban painting is holding a card from 'the Spanish game of Brisca, indicating the long shadow of European colonialism.'

I looked up 'Brisca' and found this link:http://www.playbriscas.com/

Sure looks like Tarot to me! If you can get through the commercial that preceeds the game, it comes with rules.

Any ideas?

Beautiful painting.

The card she is holding resembles an Italian deck from Sardinia (which I have in my drawer). Like the previous posters have said it is a 40 card deck. I imagine Brisca is Briscola. I have been playing the game since I was 4. Spaniards also play the game and they too use a 40 card deck for the game. My father has a Spanish deck for the game. In fact my father has at least 10 different "Briscola" decks. Every region in Italy has their own "Briscola" decks. It is my understanding they even have tournaments.

http://www.italianplayingcards.com/

You can also play "Scopa" which means "broom/sweep clean" with the cards loosely similar to the Minchiate game.