Favorite Visconti-Sforza Replacements and Why

Le Fanu

Ive always loved this myth of the "incomplete" deck, the "lost" cards.

Like the cult of the ruin...

kwaw

kwaw said:
They are based on the 'bologna' devil and tower cards: click on devil and tower links under the "Edmond de Rothschild Collection" in the Louvre here:

http://trionfi.com/0/j/d/bologna/

Both with the other four on the same sheet here:

http://www.tarothistory.com/images/encyclopedia2.jpg

The figure of the consuming devil traditionally has three faces/mouths (in mockery of the triune Godhead) that feed upon treachery ~ the three traitors Judas, Brutus and Cassius according to Dante:

Were he as fair once, as he now is foul,
And lifted up his brow against his Maker,
Well may proceed from him all tribulation.
O, what a marvel it appeared to me,
When I beheld three faces on his head!...

...At every mouth he with his teeth was crunching
A sinner, in the manner of a brake,
So that he three of them tormented thus.
To him in front the biting was as naught
Unto the clawing, for sometimes the spine
Utterly stripped of all the skin remained.
"That soul up there which has the greatest pain,"
The Master said, "is Judas Iscariot;
With head inside, he plies his legs without.
Of the two others, who head downward are,
The one who hangs from the black jowl is Brutus;
See how he writhes himself, and speaks no word.
And the other, who so stalwart seems, is Cassius.

Inferno: Canto XXXIV translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
http://www.ccel.org/d/dante/inferno/infer36.htm

The name of Judas (GIVDA) is inscribed below the figure in the central mouth of the three mouthed devil fragment at the church of Santa Croce in Florence:

The three faced lucifer at Collegiata di San Gimignano by Taddeo di Bartolo as well as bearing the label of Judas also has a nether region face:

Expelling... or Consuming?

Rosanne

HearthCricket said:
I believe the Devil and Tower were always there. They were just paper. They either got spilt on with a bit of wine, accidently (or purposely burned in the fireplace) or shredded by mice....

I know that miniature cards were given as gifts on the feast of Saint John the Baptist- which could be why some are missing- but...but....why those two?
If removed for theological reasons- why not the Papesse? As Le fanu says it is 'like the cult of the ruin. They are supposedly 'celebration' decks which tell another story, I think. Just think about this- on the celebration of two families, why would you show the destruction of your symbol of Power- The Tower?

Thanks Kwaw- I can see why you like this version- and it is interesting that it comes after the Hanged Man at 12 Judas? Then Death, Then Virtue- then the consuming? Devil. I also think of the sack of Rome when I see that particular Tower card of LS 2000.

Cosimo de Medici said about the hand painted books and other books of great value....

We have Children; we don't know how long our lives will be, but while we live we must advise and educate them, so that when they grow older. or whenever they are abandoned by us, they are equipped with sound principles.

~Rosanne

Abrac

It's interesting to hear everyone's opinions. One thing's for sure, all the different versions have their fans.

Le Fanu said:
Any of them really except the Scapini one. I really don´t know how anyone could think that the Scapini ones blend imperceptibly into the rest of the deck.

I also like the Lo Scarabeo ones you mentioned. Oddly enough though I kinda like the Scapini ones. I think it would be cool if LS did a gold-stamped version with those replacements.

gregory said:
Dal Negro, for me Just LOOKS rightest.

This is also one of my favorites. I agree it does seem to fit well with the rest of the cards.

Rosanne said:
Well I do not think these two cards were there in the first place, but of the replacements I like the Il Meneghello versions best.

I must admit I've never been too crazy about the Meneghello ones, but after reading your explanation I have a new appreciation for them.

kwaw said:
The LS (2000) Atanas Atanassov for me (because they strike me as more true to the period somehow ~ though they look perhaps, I don't know, more florentine than Milanese??).

This is also my favorite (right now anyway). I wasn't sure if anyone would be with me though. The medieval artists seemed to have an obsession with the mouth as something very evil. Thanks for posting those pictures. Those are some serious Devils, no Halloween Devils there! That last one sort of reminds me of the Scapini Devil with its curly horns.

Rosanne

Interesting to see, like Abrac said the different preferences.
Thinking of Kwaw and Abrac's preference for the LS2000 images- I thought I might add this in as a thought.

When in 1433 the Duke of Milan Filippo Maria Visconti signed a treaty of peace with Florence and Venice, he sent the condottieri Niccolò Fortebraccio and Francesco Sforza to harass the Papal States, in vengeance for Eugene IV's support to these former republics. Fortebraccio, supported by the Colonna, occupied Tivoli in October and ravaged Rome's countryside. Despite the concessions made by Eugene to the Visconti, the Milanese soldiers did not stop their action. This led the Romans to institute a Republic government under the Banderesi (May 29, 1434). Eugene left the city in the night of June 4.

However, the Banderari soon proved incapable to govern the city, and their misfits and violences deprived it soon of the popular support. The city was therefore returned to Eugene by the army of Giovanni Vitelleschi on October 26, 1434. After the death of Vitelleschi in mysterious circumstances, the power in the city was under Ludovico Scarampo, Patriarch of Aquileia. Eugene returned in Rome on 28 September 1443.

Wikipedia

Now there is some similarity to when the Goths sacked Rome in the 5th century and here is a picture from a book of Hours. I do note the building in the LS2000 looks more like a building in Ferrara/Milan/Florence than Rome and I wonder if this card is more to do with Saint Augustine's *City of God-* because of the fallen cross in the card.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ung_roms_410.jpg/180px-Eroberung_roms_410.jpg
I remember a similar one in the Visconti Book of Hours- but I cannot find a link to it.
Maybe Kwaw with his Paint splattered copy would be of help

I wish the Il Meneghello ones were gilded and foiled.
~Rosanne
* a conflict between what Augustine calls the City of Man and the City of God (a conflict that is destined to end in victory of the latter). The City of God is marked by people who forgo earthly pleasure and dedicate themselves to the promotion of Christian values. The City of Man, on the other hand, consists of people who have strayed from the City of God. So that card would be the city of Man??? Maybe and Not the house of God??? Maybe

Abrac

Hmm...I see the cross now. That makes you think.

Abrac

kwaw, do you suppose the face on the lower part of the Devil is intended to be Judas?

kwaw

Abrac said:
Hmm...I see the cross now. That makes you think.

The cross is on the original Bologna tarot card on which it is based -

Does the falling cross signify it is a 'house of god' (maison dieu) being referenced in this early Italian card?

Kwaw

kwaw

Abrac said:
kwaw, do you suppose the face on the lower part of the Devil is intended to be Judas?

In standard images Judas is represented as the central figure being eaten, rather than as one of the devil's many faces.

Debra

I have had both versions of the Lo Scarabeo deck--I like the 2002 better; they have a more authentic feel to me in terms of the composition of the image within the space of the card in relation to the other trumps. Except...I am sure the face on that Devil is Someone, and who is it? It's annoying that it seems to be a portrait (perhaps a self-portrait)?

On the other hand, Dante did the same thing with the Divine Comedy and I ain't complaining about that.

Favorite Visconti-Sforza Replacements and Why

Le Fanu

kwaw

Rosanne

Abrac

Rosanne

Abrac

Abrac

kwaw

kwaw

Debra