Dating the Visconti-Sforza deck
Posted: 09 Jan 2022, 13:47
Many pages have been written about the dating of the Visconti-Sforza deck. Personally, I believe it has been created in 1454 as explained in another threat on this forum (viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1621&start=10) and illustrated on my own website (https://tarotwheel.net/structure/the%20 ... night.html). However, this is not the subject here.
It is very well known that six of the cards in this deck are made at a later date (Temperance, Strength, the Star, the Moon, the Sun and the World). The difference is easy to see if we look at the golden background of these cards. An example of the oldest cards is Time (the Hermit in modern decks):
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_10.jpg
The court cards have the same golden background, as we can see on for instance the Page of Cups:
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_18.jpg
An example of the newer cards is the Sun:
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_13.jpg
According to many people, these are replacement cards for cards that were lost. According to some other people (to whom I belong), these cards were not replacement cards, but added cards, to transform the structure of the deck from five suits of fourteen cards to four suits of fourteen cards plus twenty-two trump cards. However, also this is not the subject here.
The subject of this post is dating the numbered cards. It is generally assumed that they were made at the same time as the first trump and court cards. My question is now, is this the truth? There are two reasons why I doubt:
My first reason to doubt is the background of the numbered cards. On the cards commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, the background of the cards is silver hammered. On the Visconti-Sforza deck, the background is left white. Why opting for this cheap solution? There might be two reasons. The first one is a budgetary reason. I think it is hard to believe that one of the most powerful people in that time in Italy did not have the resources available to fund this, so for me this cannot be the reason. The second reason might be that Francesco Sforza did not order the numbered cards. This is quite plausible, in view that some other Trionfi decks also don't have numbered cards (like the Este deck commissioned by Ercole I of Este for his marriage in 1473 and the so-called Charles VI deck). The Trionfi decks were not made for card playing, but they were made for a special occasion, and they were made to be exhibited. The court cards were a great opportunity to exhibit the coat of arms and other symbols related to the family that commissioned the cards. The pip cards were less important for exhibiting these details. So for me, it is logical that the numbered cards were originally not realized. Many years later, when the deck was extended from a fourteen trump cards structure to a twenty-two cards structure, the commissioner probably wanted to extend not only the trump structure, but to complete the entire deck. Silver-hammering is expensive and time-consuming, so this might have been the reason to keep the numbered cards as simple as possible. However, gold-hammering is still used for the suit symbols.
My second reason to doubt is just this gold-hammering. The gold on the suit symbols is very different from the gold on the trump and court cards. The gold is much brighter. Look for instance at the Ace of Cups:
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_24.jpg
When we compare this gold with the gold on the added trump cards, we have to conclude that they are very similar. For me, it seems very plausible that these cards were made at the same time. I might be entirely wrong, I never ever saw this theory elsewhere. However, I think this theory is interesting enough to have it discussed on this Forum, where some of the most knowledgeable Tarot history experts are present. I'm not at all an Art expert, so I'm curious, to hear your reaction.
It is very well known that six of the cards in this deck are made at a later date (Temperance, Strength, the Star, the Moon, the Sun and the World). The difference is easy to see if we look at the golden background of these cards. An example of the oldest cards is Time (the Hermit in modern decks):
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_10.jpg
The court cards have the same golden background, as we can see on for instance the Page of Cups:
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_18.jpg
An example of the newer cards is the Sun:
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_13.jpg
According to many people, these are replacement cards for cards that were lost. According to some other people (to whom I belong), these cards were not replacement cards, but added cards, to transform the structure of the deck from five suits of fourteen cards to four suits of fourteen cards plus twenty-two trump cards. However, also this is not the subject here.
The subject of this post is dating the numbered cards. It is generally assumed that they were made at the same time as the first trump and court cards. My question is now, is this the truth? There are two reasons why I doubt:
My first reason to doubt is the background of the numbered cards. On the cards commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, the background of the cards is silver hammered. On the Visconti-Sforza deck, the background is left white. Why opting for this cheap solution? There might be two reasons. The first one is a budgetary reason. I think it is hard to believe that one of the most powerful people in that time in Italy did not have the resources available to fund this, so for me this cannot be the reason. The second reason might be that Francesco Sforza did not order the numbered cards. This is quite plausible, in view that some other Trionfi decks also don't have numbered cards (like the Este deck commissioned by Ercole I of Este for his marriage in 1473 and the so-called Charles VI deck). The Trionfi decks were not made for card playing, but they were made for a special occasion, and they were made to be exhibited. The court cards were a great opportunity to exhibit the coat of arms and other symbols related to the family that commissioned the cards. The pip cards were less important for exhibiting these details. So for me, it is logical that the numbered cards were originally not realized. Many years later, when the deck was extended from a fourteen trump cards structure to a twenty-two cards structure, the commissioner probably wanted to extend not only the trump structure, but to complete the entire deck. Silver-hammering is expensive and time-consuming, so this might have been the reason to keep the numbered cards as simple as possible. However, gold-hammering is still used for the suit symbols.
My second reason to doubt is just this gold-hammering. The gold on the suit symbols is very different from the gold on the trump and court cards. The gold is much brighter. Look for instance at the Ace of Cups:
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default ... 630_24.jpg
When we compare this gold with the gold on the added trump cards, we have to conclude that they are very similar. For me, it seems very plausible that these cards were made at the same time. I might be entirely wrong, I never ever saw this theory elsewhere. However, I think this theory is interesting enough to have it discussed on this Forum, where some of the most knowledgeable Tarot history experts are present. I'm not at all an Art expert, so I'm curious, to hear your reaction.