FLizarraga
Great post, Nemia. Your art history background does not only show here-- it shines!
The Moon reminds me of Simeon Salomon's paintings of the moon - I'm sure Robert Place knows the Jewish Pre-Raphaelite.
Another association was Carol Ockman's article about "Two large eyebrows a l'Orientale: ethnic stereotyping in Ingres’ Baronne de Rothschild" - a Jewish topic and such strong eyebrows!!!!
It looks interesting and I'm sure there will be a wonderful book about it. It seems to me that this deck is as far removed from "mainstream" Judaism as his Saints deck from "mainstream" Catholicism; it draws on mystical traditions and esoteric teachings.
But not all the cards reach the artistic heights of some of Place's earlier works, IMO. I find the Sun really disturbing. I hope Place won't turn into a caricature of his own style. I usually love his flatness, rigidity and Classicist imperturbability (is there such a word?), but he takes it really very very far here.
He has lost the heavy cross hatch of his earlier style and replaced it color gradients - that's a pity IMO. Crosshatch is a linear device and suits his style that's based on linear art like Hypnerotomachia wood prints. Color gradients in this precise perfection scream: computer! And they counteract the flatness of his work. No, I find that his earlier work was more stringent visually and to me, more pleasing.
I really like the more modern look of the Raziel tarot. The cross hatch style would have made the images seem like they were only about long-ago times. The more modern style (but still classic and posed-looking) makes them seem timeless. They also seem....not surreal exactly but existing beyond ordinary reality, and a bit eerie. Sorry I don't have the art history background to explain this more clearly.
I purchased this deck recently - and love it. The paintings are very much storytelling images, and somewhat reminiscent of old-fashioned Bible story pictures. It reads well too.