Depaulis brought this new entry to our attention, but the actual research happened
by ..
... Nerida Newbegin in 2002. A good example, that it often takes a long time till new discoveries reach the inner circle of Tarot history researchers. Similar it's in a good part of the following documents.See Nerida Newbigin, ed., "I "Giornali" di ser Giusto Giusti d'Anghiari (1437-1482)" in Letteratura Italiana Antica, III, 2002, pp. 41-246.
http://www.torrossa.it/resources/an/2193293
1. There was the detection of the work of Arnold Esch by Depaulis, which lead to some entries about Triunfi cards imported to Rome between 1474-1478 likely from Florence around 2007. Ross detected then a later work of Arnold Esch in the web in October 2011 ...
a longer discussion about google-book-snippets of the Esch book
.... between them this exciting statement:
.. which talks of numbers of "309" packs of Triunfi cards imported to Rome in a single action (likely from Florence) at the end of 1464. Such high numbers of Trionfi cards NEVER had occurred before in other Trionfi card documents. It was clearly a sign, that - at least - in this year 1464 some mass production of Triunfi cards had started."... fra cui bandiere230; fino al 1464, nei registri doganali viene menzionato ancora con ogni ben di Dio: «merce minute di Milano», tele di Costanza, stamigna francese, bonette, triunfi («para 309», «para 24») ed altre carte da giocare, ..." is before
Page 63
Well, we got a few snippets, and it was recognizable, that Arnold Esch had found there some gigantic research material, which, if it would be researched in more detail, would offer a lot of explanations for the development of playing and Triunfi cards in Italy during 15th century, things, about which we in our research situation can only build theories.
For Esch himself, playing and Triunfi cards had been only a "minor point between many others". He indicates, that the material, that he presents of them, were only examples. The real treasure is this archive in Rome.
We noted, that we, not living in Italy, are rather limited in our approach. We needed assistance of Italian researchers.
We asked Franco Pratesi to help us. Franco lives in Florence, but not in Rome. But, as Franco was especially interested in Florentine playing card history, Franco promised to study the Esch book (which indicated, that at least a greater part of the imports came from Florence). Well, our snippets had indicated results since 1463, but Franco found an entry of 1453.
"1453. Giovanni da Pistoia:
'12 immagine di legnio e 8 paia de triunfi da giochare';
dog.: 36 bol. (=10 duc.); reg. 48, fol. 45v, luglio."
Franco wrote - with some technical help of Trionfi.com - his first article:
http://trionfi.com/triunfi-playing-cards-rome
1453 AN EARLY ARRIVAL OF TRIUMPHS INTO ROME, 3rd of November 2011
2.
But Franco recognized, that the archive in Rome in its gigantic dimensions would mean a few years full of work. Not possible in the moment from his side.
But he promised to take some further investigation in libraries of Florence. His first experiences gave an hopeless impression ... but, researcher's luck can turn quickly, he found a lot of rather important new documents. First he stumbled about a Sicilian journal "Kalós". This had an article of Francesco Lo Piccolo, written in the year 2002 and it contained the following dates ...
http://trionfi.com/kalos-tarocco-siciliano1482: Franco Olivier from Malta was fined because he had been found to play the forbidden game of naibi or carte.
1485: Death of Raimondo de Sezana, French. He had a factory of playing cards in Palermo.
1562: Vincenzo Siviglia produces playing cards in Palermo, San Francesco district.
1595: Francesco Bova becomes "arrendatore", namely he is officially charged as the responsible in the whole country of the production and trade of playing cards (with taxes going to the Regia Corte).
1630: Girolamo Sanna dies in Palermo and among the goods found at his factory there are "200 figuri di tarocchi tagliati et pinti" (200 figures [probably, but not certainly, the triumphal cards of the pack] of tarots cut and painted).
... and between them the information "200 figuri di tarocchi tagliati et pinti" in 1630 in a Sicilian playing card factory. The earlier hypothesis about Tarocchi games in Sicily had been, that the game was brought to Sicily around 1662, stated by Michael Dummett, who had a special favor for the Tarocco Siciliano.
Well, this was only a sidepath.
3.
Franco made then a complex research which took 3 books ...
(1) Lorenz Böninger, Die deutsche Einwanderung nach Florenz im Spätmittelalter. Brill, Leiden-Boston 2006.
(2) Werner Jacobsen, Die Maler von Florenz zu Beginn der Renaissance, Dt. Kunstverl., München 2001.
(3) Gino Corti, Frederick Hartt, "New Documents...",The Art Bulletin, 44 (1962) 155-167.
... and the 3rd was then a successful finding, and this told us, that a Florentine painter "Filippo di Marco" had various Trionfi card commissions from a dealer of art objects, Bartolommeo di Paolo Serragli, between the years 1453-1458.
http://trionfi.com/filippo-di-marcoA [3]. Estranei 264, c. 226, left side
Bartolommeo di Paholo Seragli de’ dare...
E adì 10 di marzo [1452/53] f. otto, per lui a Pipo di Marcho portò contanti, sono per uno paio di trionfi richi ebe da lui. f. 8.
B [5] Estranei 264, c. 241, left side
Bartolomeo di Pagholo Seragli de’ dare...
E adì 21 di marzo f. uno largo, per lui a Filipo di Marcho dipintore, portò contanti, sono per parte di lavoro gli à fato. f.1 s.4.
C [6]. Estranei 265, c. 27, left side
Bartolomeo di Pagholo Serragli de’ dare…
E adì 31 di marzo [1453] f. 5 larghi, per lui a Filippo di Marcho dipintore, portò e’ detto contanti, sono per resto di 2 paia di trio[n]fi fatogli, come dise Ghaspare da Ghiaceto. f. 5 s. 18 d. 4.
D [13]. Estranei 267, c. 35, left side
1455
Bartolomeo di Pagholo Seragli de’ dare…
E adì 29 di marzo f. quatro, portò e’ detto, sono per paghare a Filipo di Marcho, per 3 paia di trionfi e 2 paia di charte. f. 4
E [15]. Estranei 267, c. 98, left side
1455
Bartolomeo di Pagholo Seragli de’ dare…
E adì 6 di settembre f. due, per lui a Pipo dipintore, portò Giovanni di Domenicho contanti, per trionfi. f. 2.
….
E adì 20 detto f. uno, per lui a Pipo dipintore, portò Giovanni di Domenicho contanti, per trionfi. f. 1.
…
E adì 27 detto f. dua larghi, per lui a Pipo di Marcho dipintore, portò Giovanni di Domenicho contanti. f.2 s.6 d.7.
E adì 10 d’otobre f. uno largho, per lui a Filipo di Marcho dipintore, portò contanti, per un paio di trionfi operati. f.2 s.6 d.7.
….
E adì 21 detto, L. trenta, per lui a Filipo di Marcho dipintore, portò contanti: sono per resto di trionfi auti da lui insino a questo dì. f. 7 s.- d.8.
F [17] Estranei 267, c. 206
Bartolomeo di Pagolo Seragli de’ dare…
E adì 17 detto [April 1456] L. sedici piccioli, per lui a Filippo di Marcho dipintore, portò chontanti, e quali dise gli prestava per trionfi gli deve fare. f.3 s.20 d.6.
…
E adì 30 detto f. quatro larghi, per lui a Filippo di Marcho dipintore, portò contanti, dise per parte di trionfi gl’àne a fare. f.4 s.26 d.7.
…
E adì 15 detto [May] L. dieci, per lui a Filippo di Marcho dipintore, portò contanti, dise èrono per trionfi che da lui. f.2 s.9 d.8.
G [22]. Estranei 268, c. 217, left side
1457
Bartolomeo di Pagholo Seragli de’ dare…
E adì 17 detto [April 1, 1458] L. quatordici s. X piccioli, per lui a Filippo di Marcho dipintore, portò contanti, sono per 2 paia di trionfi. f. 3 s.10 d.6.
"1453-1458 Florentine triumphs by Filippo di Marco", Franco Pratesi 12th of January 2012
Well, the actual finding goes back to a research done in the 1950's and the researchers Gino Corti and Frederick Hartt, who didn't realize, that these objects were Trionfi playing cards. The article from 1962 is on the web, and it's available, if you've Jstor-access:
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3048011
Well, the Trionfi card painter Filippo di Marco, more or less unknown, made luxury Trionfi decks and from the now known number of his productions it's apparent, that he has to be evaluated as of similar rank as Iacopo Sagramoro (active as Trionfi card painter 1442-1456) and Gerardo de Andrea da Vicenza (active as Trionfi card painter 1457-1463), both working in Ferrara for Leonello and Borso d'Este. The scheme is different in Florence, Filippo works for the art dealer and this sells mainly to rather rich customers.
In older Tarot history research it was assumed, that Giovanni del Ponte alias Giovanni di Marco might have been the artist of the so-called Rothschild Tarocchi fragment.
This hypothesis has formed on the basis of iconographic comparison with other known works of Giovanni del Ponte (alias Giovanni d Marco), in this case ...
Now we have, that another "di Marco", Filippo di Marco, had been a real and for the moment the only full confirmed early Trionfi card painter in Florence in the years 1453-1458. If we assume, that Filippo di Marco (not much is known about him) had been a less known younger brother to the more famous Giovanni, the similarity to the works of Giovanni might reflect the "unknown condition", that Filippo had worked in the workshop of Giovanni or just imitated his brothers work.
Well, that's only suspicion ... but in this case we might suspect, that the Rothschild cards would be possibly a work of Filippo di Marco.
4.
The fourth great finding of Franco Pratesi had been in these 5 collections ...
... of documentary material, which present difficult-to-read business reports ...
see:
http://trionfi.com/naibi-on-sale
1447-1449 - NAIBI ON SALE by Franco Pratesi, 27.01.2012
... of a Florentine merchant-family with the name "Puri". Between many other goods, the Puri family also sold playing cards and the records reach from September 1447 till March 1449. The number of records is considerable, there's a greater variety of different decks and further, there are some names of playing card producers known. Between the card makers is one famous name, Giovanni di Ser Giovanni nicknamed "Lo Scheggia", about which I wrote recently:
http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=171021
There are some concrete points, which possibly indicate, that "Lo Scheggia" might have been possibly the artist or a related artist of the Charles VI Tarocchi deck and the similar Ursino cards:
http://expositions.bnf.fr/renais/arret/3/index.htm
Charles VI: World
Ursino cards: World
Here a "Lo Scheggia" Cassone painting:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... A20987.jpg
And here a detail from the unusual Temperance in the Ursino cards:
The blond and locked hair, the facial expression and the rather special way to present the female breasts give the impression, that it might be from the same painter.
A further interesting point is the date: September 1447 - March 1449. Before Franco's new result my impression had been, that a period of stronger playing card prohibition reigned in 1440s and endured till c. 1450, when we get allowances for specific games in the rules.
Now it's the impression, that at least in the observable period since September 1447 the prohibition broke down.
I suspect a context to the death of Filippo Maria Visconti in August 1447, which was preceded by the death of pope Eugen IV in spring 1447 (Eugen had a strong relation to the Franciscans, and the Franciscans preached excessively against playing cards; Filippo Maria Visconti was the arch enemy of Florence, and it might be that the earlier prohibition was broken to a sort of amnesty according some general Florentine enjoyment about an expected better future with the following Ambrosian republic in Milan.
The statistic of the sales looks unusual and not very balanced, the big sales had been autumn and winter 1447/1448.
1447 Sep - 2 in dozen (cheap) - 12 single decks (much more expensive)
1447 Oct - 13 in dozen (cheap) - 11 single decks (much more expensive)
1447 Nov - 16 in dozen (cheap) - 16 single decks (much more expensive)
1447 Dec - 4 in dozen (cheap) - 2 single decks (much more expensive)
1448 Jan - 11 in dozen (cheap)
-
1448 Mar - 3 in dozen (cheap) - 8 single decks (much more expensive)
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1448 Jun - 0.5 in dozen (cheap)
1448 Jul - 18 in dozen (cheap)
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1448 Oct - 4 in dozen (cheap)
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1449 March 0.5 in dozen (cheap)
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Franco published some more articles at ...
http://trionfi.com/es00
So there's a lot of revolutionary development just in the last months. As it could be seen, it often are not the very old documents, which bring the great success in research, but just the coordination of already existing researches, which just haven't reached the inner circle of Tarot and playing card researchers ... well, perhaps this has the reason, that there are not enough of them.