Did Albert Dürer paint a Tarot deck?

[le-mat]

And I'm talking about the modern german painter here, not the "Dürer Tarot". I ask this question because I read an article about Tarot on Encarta that said:

"Many antique tarot decks were designed by painters of great prestige, such as Albert Dürer"

but I couldn't find a reference to that deck on the Internet nor on this forum.

Do you know is this information is accurate?

 

[jmd]

There was an earlier thread in which I mentioned that Dürer is claimed to have executed some cards of the Mantegna deck (a set of fifty images, thus not really a 'proper' Tarot).

If you are interested, it was mentioned in the 50-Card Mantegna/Fererra & D'Este thread.

From memory, these were also investigated towards the end of the 19th century, and determined to have been produced someone other than Dürer.

In any case, no Tarot, as far as I am aware, was produced by his hand... unfortunately.

 

[catboxer]

I nosed around in some of my Durer books last night looking for an answer to this question. As far as I know, Albrecht Durer never designed any tarot cards, although some of his woodcuts, such as "Melencolia" or "The Knight, Death, and the Devil," have a definite tarot aura about them.

He did execute some drawings as illustrations for a book that's sort of tangentially tarot-related, "The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo." Some of them, however, are little more than rough sketches.

 

[Myrrha]

In one of my art classes the instructor brought in a book of "versions", works where one artist copies another artists work, sometimes in a slightly different style or sometimes making larger changes. One of the works in the book was a D?rer copy of the "Primum Mobile" print from the Mantegna series. It is a close copy except for the style of the lines. I will go to the library and try to find the book again, although it might have been the instructor's own book. Maybe I could scan the drawing.

Myrrha

 

[le-mat]

thanks!

your info was really useful!

so i guess no famous painter did a tarot deck... except for dalí, but i have strong objections against his deck.

 

[Diana]

I think that Pablo Picasso was quite fascinated by Tarot. What a shame he didn't leave us with a deck of the Major Arcana! Would have been wonderful!

 

[Huck]

Stuart Kaplan, Encyclopedia I, page 47, shows 6 of Dürers 21 (or 22 - as another source said) Mantegna Tarocchi. Dürer used 2 different styles, as if he was trying something. It seems, that the project stayed unfinished, perhaps Dürer made just something to keep up practice, dropping the project, when getting something better to do.
I saw some of them in an exhibition. As far I remember, it was still said, that they are from Dürer.

 

[jmd]

I wish I could remember where it was I read that there was some question as to whether these were from Dürer's fine hand, for certainly Kaplan (in the Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol 1, p47), Cavendish (The Tarot) and Perrin (in the paper previously mentioned in the link above) give Dürer as the undoubted artist - even if Kaplan qualifies it by mentioning that some of the illustrations may have been from the hand of an assistant.

Irrespective... they are magnificent renditions, and personally wished they had also worked on a Tarot deck, in addition to the Mantegna.

Lucky you are, Huck, to have seen some in an exhibition. When some of Dürer's works made it to Melbourne a few years ago, these were not, unfortunately, part of the lot.

 

[Huck]

I wish I could remember where it was I read that there was some question as to whether these were from Dürer's fine hand, for certainly Kaplan (in the Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol 1, p47), Cavendish (The Tarot) and Perrin (in the paper previously mentioned in the link above) give Dürer as the undoubted artist - even if Kaplan qualifies it by mentioning that some of the illustrations may have been from the hand of an assistant.

Irrespective... they are magnificent renditions, and personally wished they had also worked on a Tarot deck, in addition to the Mantegna.

Lucky you are, Huck, to have seen some in an exhibition. When some of Dürer's works made it to Melbourne a few years ago, these were not, unfortunately, part of the lot.

The pictures weren't very impressive and beside a little different style they're almost simply the Mantegna and a copy. Dürer didn't too often copy something. If it was Dürer or not - it's not very important, some of his works are in doubt, there were simply a lot of good engravers in Germany and there is iconographical richness. And the Mantegna hasn't survived as printed playing cards anyway. Here is a link, which tells you more, an exhibition in Bochum about allegories

http://www.kgi.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/projekte/weltlauf/archiv_idx.htm

and you know then, that the Mantegna is somehow "nothing". We've a dictionary here in the library, perhaps 50 books, Flemish and German artists, only about engravings. I took some hours to explore some of them at the surface, but if I would take it serious, I need two weeks at least just for looking. In the case, you don't know the following link

http://geocities.com/autorbis/oldcards.html

I might reassure you, that not everything became the motive for a playing card. There was simply art and playing cards were not the only objects, for which art was used.

 

[baba-prague]

These are great links, thanks. I think I came across one of them on another tarot forum, but I had forgotten them. Very useful - several week's reading there.

I'm tempted to ask you what you think of the "Durer Tarot" - but perhaps I had better not! I'm be tactful and just say that I was more than a little disappointed when I saw it.