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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>THE DIVINE HERMES
</H3>
Hermes, who was associated with the Egyptian god Thoth, was considered in the ancient world to be the inventor of writing and the author of several magical and religious treatises. At the time of the Roman Empire, these Hermetic texts were re-interpreted in the School of Alexandria in the light of Greek philosophy, especially Pythagoras and Plato. The Fathers of the Church also viewed Hermes with great respect as a result of analogies between some of the texts attributed to him and and passages in the gospels.<br>
In 1460, a manuscript found in Macedonia and wrongly attributed to Hermes Trismegistus was brought to Cosimo de Medici in Florence. The translation of this work in 1463, by the priest and philosopher Marsilio Ficino, was followed by the translation of Platonic works which revealed a fascinating conception of the Cosmos. This philosophy held that the Universe converged on the Divine Unity, ordered according to various degrees of perfection and represented by the concentric circles of the planetary and celestial spheres, while man himself possessed a divine part - the soul - that during his earthly existence could lead him to contemplation of the Supreme Good through the practice of virtue and through the mediation of the various angelical beings.<br>
Another important aspect of this philosophy was the idea that the Universe was reflected in all things. Man was conceived as a little world, a Microcosmos which in structure and content was identical to the Macrocosmos. Beginning with Ficino, Renaissance philosophers devised elaborate systems of correspondence between the stars of the firmament and the various parts of the human body. One consequence of this was the revaluation of magic, astrology and alchemy - the prime example of a Hermetic art. These sciences were thought capable of enabling man to understand the secret links which held the universe together and influenced human behaviour.
Thus the ancient planetary divinities - Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Sun and the Moon - reassumed their role as powerful and feared spirits who could be invoked and questioned for knowledge of mans fortune. Indeed man, through the creation of amulets, the performance of special rites, and the carrying out of specific operations, would be able to defend himself from the power of the stars - which was even hidden in stone and metals - and by capturing that power employ it for his own spiritual elevation.<br>
This philosophy inspired such authors as the poet Ludovico Lazzarelli (1450-1500), whose "De Gentilium imaginibus deorum" was illustrated with figures from the so-called Mantegna Tarots, and the anonymous author of the Sola-Busca Tarots (approx.1490) with their references to alchemy.<br>
During the same period several of the Tarot images were modified in order to conform with the Hermetic iconography. Following the Platonic conception, in fact, the starry origin of the soul is represented in the map of the Stars, and the Anima Mundi which Ficino believed to represent the mediating influence between man and God appears in the map of the World.<br>
<P>3 THE DIVINE HERMES<BR>This section underlines the iconographical
relationship between the Renaissance tarots and the Hermes taught (Platonist and
Neoplatonist taught). Here are displayed ancient prints, illustrated printed
books and manuscripts.</P>
<P>Magical-Hermetical-Neoplatonist Iconography </P>
<P>Prints</P>
<P>Michael Wolgemuth (Nurnberg 1434 - 1519)<BR>Christ in
majesty<BR>Wood-engraving </P>
<P>Hans Burgmair (Augsburg 1473 - 1531)<BR>The young prince learning
magic<BR>Xylography</P>
<P>Anonymous (16th C.)<BR>Adorazione di Sole e Luna <BR>(Adoring the Sun and the
Moon)<BR>Xylography</P>
<P>Harmensz Van Rijn Rembrandt (Leida 1606 - Amsterdam 1669)<BR>Doctor
Faust<BR>Etching (Copy of 19th C)</P>
<P>Anonymous (17th C.)<BR>Hermetic allegory<BR>Etching</P>
<P>John Kip (Amsterdam 1653 - London 1722)<BR>The Ark send back<BR>Etching</P>
<P>John Kip (Amsterdam 1653 – London 1722)<BR>Uzza struck by God<BR>Etching</P>
<P>Bernard Picard (Paris 1673 - Amsterdam 1734)<BR>Les Danaides <BR>(The
Danaides)<BR>Burin</P>
<P>Gaetano Gherardo Zompini (Nervosa 1700 -Venice 1778)<BR>Anton Maria Zanetti
(Venice 1697 - 1767)<BR>Chirone insegna l’alchimia ad Achille <BR>(Chiron
teaches alchemy to Achilles)<BR>Etching and drypoint</P>
<P>Jean Jacques Aliamet (Abbeville 1726 - Paris 1788)<BR>Departure for witches’
Sabbath<BR>Etching </P>
<P>François Joseph Foulquier (Toulouse 1744 - Martinica 1789)<BR>Evocation of
dead people<BR>Etching </P>
<P>Anonymous (French school 18th C.)<BR>Magic rite<BR>Etching </P>
<P>Joseph Friedrich Rein (Augsburg 1720 - 1795)<BR>Tacentem ne iudica <BR>(He
does not judge the silents)<BR>Etching </P>
<P>Victor André Texier (La Rochelle 1777 - Paris 1864)<BR>The alchemist
meditating <BR>Etching </P>
<P>William French (England 1815 - 1898)<BR>The chemist<BR>Steel</P>
<P>Joseph Claiton Bentley (Bradford 1809 - London 1851)<BR>The
alchemist<BR>Steel</P>
<P></P>
<P></P>
<P></P>
<P></P>
<P>Illustrated Books</P>
<P>Alisandro Piccolomini<BR>Della Sfera del mondo <BR>(About the world
Sphere)<BR>Venice, 1553</P>
<P>R. P. Luigi Contarino Crocifero<BR>Il vago e dilettevole Giardino ove si
leggono…I fatti e la morte de Profeti…Il nome e l'opere delle dieci
Sibille…<BR>(The vague and amusing garden where one reads... the facts and the
death of the <BR>Prophets.. the name and the work of the ten Sibyls)<BR>Venice,
1619</P>
<P>Gustave. Lebé<BR>Figures des histories de la Sancte Bible <BR>(Images of the
Sacred Bible stories)<BR>Paris, 1666</P>
<P>Giovanni Battista Grassetti <BR>La vera e falsa astrologia <BR>(True and
false astrology)<BR>Rome, 1683</P>
<P>La Barre De Beaumarchais<BR>Le Temple des Muses <BR>(The Temple of the
Muses)<BR>Amsterdam, 1733</P>
<P>La Barre De Beaumarchais<BR>Le Temple des Muses <BR>(The Temple of the
Muses)<BR>Amsterdam, 1742</P>
<P>Francesco Scipione Maffei<BR>Arte magica dileguata <BR>(Dissipated magical
art)<BR>Verona, 1750</P>
<P>Bartolomeo Preati<BR>L’arte magica dimostrata <BR>(Demonstrating the magical
art)<BR>Venice, 1751</P>
<P></P>
<P>Antoine Court de Gebelin<BR>Monde primitif (Vol. I°)<BR>(The Primitive
World)<BR>Paris, 1773</P>
<P>Antoine Court de Gebelin<BR>Monde primitif (Vol. II°)<BR>(The Primitive
World)<BR>Paris, 1774</P>
<P>Antonio De Haen<BR>De magia, dissertatio teologico - phisica<BR>Naples,
1777</P>
<P>Charles François Dupuis<BR>L'Origine de tous les cultes (Tre volumi +
Atlante)<BR>(The origin of all the cults - Three volumes + Atlas)<BR>Paris,
1795</P>
<P>Manuscripts</P>
<P>Friar Everardo da Udine<BR>Libro esorcismo o Scongiuri con li quali si
dimanda dei Tesori nascosti, o altre sume ad uno spirito chiamato
Fanfarello<BR>(Exorcism or incantation book where one asks a spirit called
Fanfarello about hidden treasures or other secrets) <BR>Manuscript, 17th C.</P>
<P>Reproductions</P>
<P>School of Giulio Romano (16th C.) <BR>Figura di Naiade <BR>(Naiad
figure)<BR>Mantova,. Palazzo Te, Sala di Psiche.</P>
<P>Leonhard Turneyesser Zum Thurn (1574)<BR>Anima Mercurii <BR>(Mercurious
soul)<BR>Xilography fron the alchemy book “Quinta Essentia”
(Quintessence)<BR>Wien, Graphische Sammlung Albertina</P>
<P></P>
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