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<B>Tarot <br>Art and Magic<br><br>
INTERNATIONAL<br>EXHIBITION</b></font><br><br>
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<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/">Start</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/00/">Introduction</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/01/">Celestial Harmony</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/02/">Allegorical Iconography</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/03/">Divine Hermes</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/04/">Game of Tarots</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/05/">Book of Thot</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/06/">Cartomancy</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/07/">Modern Artists</A><br><br>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/08/">Technical Notes</A>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/09/">Le Tarot</A>
<A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/10/">Andrea Vitali</A>
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<H3>CELESTIAL HARMONY</H3>
The game of the Tarots is based on 56 numeral cards, said to be Italian but in fact Arabic in origin ("coppe", "danari", "bastoni" and "spade"), and 22 cards known as Triumphs which were introduced at the beginning of the 15th century in Italy. This game derives from the "Triumphi" of Petrarch (hence "trump" from Italian "trionfi"), who in that work described the principal forces which govern men and assigned a hierarchical value to each of them. First of all comes Love (Instinct), which is won over by Modesty (Reason); next comes Death, which is defeated by Fame - which is in turn attacked by Time, Eternity, or God, stands over all. In the cards of the Tarots the Triumphs first were 6 then 22, number that in the mystical meaning of the Christian numerology represents the introduction to wisdom and the divine teachings engraved inmen.<br><br>
The medieval theology assigns to the universe a precise order, formed by symbolic stairs going from the earth to the sky: From the top of the stairs God, the First Cause, governs the world, without getting directly involved, but operating “ex gradibus” i.e. through an uninterrupted series of negotiators. In this way his divine power is transmitted down to the lower creatures, and even to the humblest beggar. If we on the contrary read this symbology from the bottom to the top, we are taught that the man can gradually elevate in the spiritual order, climbing along the summits of the “bonum”, “verum” and “nobile” and that science and virtues take him nearest to God.
From the first known list of Tarots, of the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, it is evident that it was an ethical game.<br><br>
The Bagatto shows a common man who has been provided with both temporal guides (the Emperor and Empress) and spiritual guides (the Pope and Popess, ie. Faith).<br><br>
Human instincts themselves must be mitigated by the virtues: Love by Temperance, and the desire for power (the Chariot of Triumph) by Fortitude.The Wheel of Fortune teaches us that success is ephemeral and that even the great are destined to become dust: thus the Hermit who follows the Wheel represents Time, to which all beings are subject, while the Hanged Man depicts the danger of falling in temptation and sin before the arrival of the physical death.<br><br>
Even the afterlife is represented according to the typical medieval idea: Hell, and thus the Devil, stands at the centre of the earth, while the celestial spheres are above earth. According to the Aristotelian vision of the cosmos, the terrestial sphere is surrounded by celestial fires which in the Tarots are represented as lightning striking a tower. The planetary spheres are synthesized in three main planets:Venus (the preeminent Star), the Moon, and the Sun.<br><br>
The highest star is the Empyrean, the seat of the angels who will be summoned to awaken the dead from their tombs at the Last Judgement - when divine Justice will triumph in weighing the souls and dividing the good from the evil.
Highest of all is the World, or the Holy Father, as an anonymous Dominican commentator on the Tarots wrote at the end of the 15th century. The same author places the Fool after the World, as if to illustrate his complete alienation from all rules and teachings.
During the 15th century the game of Tarot was known as the Ludus Triumphorum, and it was only at the beginning of the 15th century that the term Tarocchi, or Tarots, came into use. <br><br>
The origin of the new term is still controversial today: some hold that it derives from the Arabic Tariqa, meaning The Way of Mystical Knowledge, a variant of a mystic path of Indian origin, having as inspiring source Tara, goddess of Knowledge (The Green Tara represents the goddess of the Supreme Knowledge in the Tibetan Buddhism). Others perceive a possible link to the technique used in northern Italian courts known as Taroccato, used for decorating illuminated manuscripts with a punch; still others assume that the word Tarocco comes from the dialect word tarocar, which means saying or doing foolish or senseless things while gambling.<br><br>
<P>With prints and ancient illustrated books, this first
section shows very rare miniated cards dating back to the 15th C. and oriental
cards made of ivory. It illustrates the late medieval way of thinking about the
world structure, the universe and the birth of the Triumphs (Tarots) an a play
with moral and ethical basis</P>
<P><B>The Mystic Stairs: Cosmology and Memory Art</B></P><br>
<P><B>Prints</B></P>
<P>Albrecht Dürer (Nurnberg 1471 - 1528)<BR>The geocentric
universe<BR>Wood-engraving,1493 </P>
<P>Anonymous (1559)<BR>The world, the four elements, the firmament and
God<BR>Wood-engraving</P>
<P>Anonymous (School of Baccio Baldini, 15th C.) <BR>The Sacred
Mountain<BR>Engraving, 1892 (made with 15th century plates on contemporary
paper)</P>
<P>Raphael Sadeler (Antwerp 1569 - München approx.1628)<BR>The dream of
Jacob<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Philip Galle (Haarlem 1537 - 1612)<BR>The Triumph of Modesty<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Philip Galle (Haarlem 1537 - 612)<BR>The Triumph of Death<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Anonymous (16th C.)<BR>The Triumph of Fame<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Georg Pençz (Nurnberg approx. 1500 - Konigsberg 1550)<BR>The Triumph of
Time<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Anonymous (16th C.)<BR>The Triumph of Glory<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Adrian Collaert (Antwerp 1520 – approx. 1570)<BR>Caesar's
triumph<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Daniel Van den Bremden (Antwerp 1587 - approx. 1650)<BR>Time goes, Death
comes<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Crispin Van de Passe (Köln 1560 - Utrecht
1637)<BR>Grammar<BR>Dialectic<BR>Rhetoric<BR>Music<BR>Arithmetic<BR>Geometry<BR>Astronomy
(Burin)</P>
<P>Sébastien Le Clerc (Metz 1637 - Paris1714) and Jean Audran (Lion 1667 -
Paris1756)<BR>Retorica (Rhetoric)<BR>Poesis (Poetry)<BR>Astronomia
(Astronomy)<BR>Geographia (Geography)<BR>Matematica
(Mathematics)<BR>Architectura (Architecture)<BR>Historia (History)<BR>Erudizio
(Erudition)<BR>Etchings, 1719 </P>
<P>Andrea van Rymsdyck (Holland ? - Bath 1786)<BR>Alpha et Omega<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Anonymous (Italy, 19th C.)<BR>Erato - (Erato)<BR>Polimnia
(Polyhymnia)<BR>Urania (Urania)<BR>Calliope (Calliope)<BR>Etchings</P>
<P>Ferdinando Strina (Naples active 1730 - 1760)<BR>Strada per salire alla
divina unione<BR>(Road to climb to the divine union)<BR>Burin, 1789</P>
<P><B>Illustrated Books</B></P>
<P>Francesco Petrarca<BR>I Trionfi <BR>(The Triumphs) <BR>Lion, 1551</P>
<P>Francesco Petrarca<BR>I Trionfi<BR>(The Triumphs)<BR>Venice, 1563</P>
<P>Scipione Bargagli<BR>I Trattenimenti<BR>(The Entertainments)<BR>Venice,
1587</P>
<P>Hieronimo Natali<BR>Evangelicae Historiae Imagines <BR>(Images of the
Evangelic Histories)<BR>Antwerp, 1593</P>
<P>Erasmo da Rotterdam<BR>Colloquia familiaria<BR>(Domestic
conversations)<BR>Amsterdam, 1621</P>
<P>University of Cambridge<BR>Historiae Sacrae Novi Testamenti<BR>(Sacred
Histories of the New Testament)<BR>Cambridge, 1638</P>
<P>Guillaume Derham<BR>Theologie astronomique ou demonstration de l'existence et
des <BR>attributs de Dieu par l'examen et la description des Cieux
<BR>(Astronomical theology as demonstration of the existence and of the
attributes of God through the analysis and description of the Heaven) <BR>Paris,
1729<BR>Giambattista Vico<BR>La Scienza Nuova <BR>(The New Science)<BR>Turin,
1852</P>
<P><B>Playing Cards “Trionfi”</B></P>
<P>Tarots of Francesco Sforza (made in Milan in about 1460-1480)<BR>6
illuminated cards, 172 x 87 mm (attributed to Bonifacio Bembo)<BR>The Sun<BR>The
Lovers<BR>The Fool<BR>The Page of Swords<BR>The 2 of Cups<BR>The 5 of Coins</P>
<P>Master from Ferrara (near to Francesco Del Cossa, 15th C.)<BR>Carte del
cosiddetto "Tarocco del Mantegna" <BR>(Cards of the so-called Mantegna-Tarot) 2
cards xilographed by Leopoldo Cicognara "Memorie spettanti alla storia della
Calcografia" (Atlante) <BR>(Memories due to the Calcography history – Atlas,
Prato, 1831</P>
<P>Anonymous (Venice or Ferrara, end of the 15th C. - early 16th C.)<BR>Tarocchi
Sola-Busca (Sola-Busca Tarots)<BR>4 cards xilographed by Leopoldo Cicognara
"Memorie spettanti alla storia della Calcografia" (Atlante) <BR>(Memories due to
the Calcography history - Atlas)<BR>Prato, 1831</P>
<P><B>Reproductions</B></P>
<P>Antonio Cicognara ? ( Milan, 15th C.)<BR>Tarocchi Colleoni-Baglioni
(Visconti)<BR>17 miniated cards<BR>Bergamo, Biblioteca Carrara<BR>New York,
Pierpont Morgan Library<BR>Ferrara, 15th C.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Anonymous ( Ferrara? 15th C.)<BR>Cosidetti “Tarocchi di Carlo VI” <BR>(Cards
of the so- called “Tarots of Charles VI”)<BR>16 miniated cards<BR>Paris,
Bibliotèque Nationale</P>
<P>Master from Ferrara (near to Francesco Del Cossa, 15th C.)<BR>Carte del
cosiddetto "Tarocco del Mantegna"<BR>(Cards of the so-called
“Mantegna-Tarot”)<BR>50 cards, burin engraving <BR>Pavia, Museo Civico.</P>
<P>The origins of Numbered Minor Arcana</P>
<P><B>Cards </B></P>
<P>Anonymous (15th C.)<BR>Muluk Wanuwwab <BR>Arabian cards<BR>Hand-painted
drawings <BR>(reproductions of the only one existent deck, from the Top-Kapi
Museum)</P>
<P>Anonymous (17th C.)<BR>Dasavatara cards<BR>Indian cards<BR>9 ivory cards </P><br><P><B>Books</B></P>
<P>Innocenzo Ringhieri <BR>Cento giuochi liberali, et d’ingegno <BR>(Thousand
liberal and talent games)<BR>Venice, 1553</P>
<P>Girolamo Bargagli<BR>Dialogo de' giuochi che nelle vegghie Sanesi si usano di
fare del <BR>materiale Intronato<BR>(Dialogue about the games played in Siena
during winter evenings with throne cards)<BR>Siena, 1572</P>
<P>Thomaso Garzoni da Bagnacavallo<BR>La Piazza universale di tutte le
professioni del mondo<BR>(The universal Place for all world
professions)<BR>Venice, 1593</P>
<P>Gianpietro Zanotti<BR>Le pitture di Pellegrino Tibaldi e di Nicolò Abbati
<BR>(The paintings of Pellegrino Tibaldi and Nicolò Abbati) <BR>Venice, 1756</P>
<P>Romain Merlin<BR>Origines des cartes a Jouer<BR>(Origin of the Playing
Cards)<BR>Paris,1869</P>
<B><P>Prints</P></B>
<P>Gio.Wenzel<BR>La predica di San Bernardino da Siena<BR>(The sermon of St.
Bernardino from Siena ) <BR>Water-colours painted incision from "The Perfect
Legendary or Life of the Saints"<BR>(Rome 1841)</P>
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