Order of Cardinal VirtuesIolon wrote: 21 May 2022, 16:37
1. Why do you say the cardinat virtues don't have a fixed order. Since Plato this order did not change: Temperance, Force, Prudence and Justice. Justice was only the combined virtue of all other three virtues, so if you had achieved the virtues Temperance, Force and Prudence, then automatically you had achieved the virtue Justice. This is probably the reason why Prudence disappeared in the Tarot sequence, its presence did not really add something to the virtues.
The Cardinal Virtues appear in many different orders in medieval and Renaissance artwork. Often only one or two are used. The creator of the Tarot order chose a specific order for three, but whether it had a particular moral meaning is something we can only speculate about. The basis for my speculation is comparison with contemporary series of the Cardinal Virtues, noting that every composition which uses them, often with others, uses them for a specific purpose. For instance, when a Virtue is singled out from the rest for special emphasis, such as Justice in Alfonso's Neapolitan triumph of 1443, or even when one is conspicuously omitted, which Charles Rosenberg famously argued for the lack of Justice in Borso's Sala degli Stucchi in the Schifanoia palace in Ferrara, where Borso's chair or throne takes the place of Justice, therefore identifying Borso with the Virtue when he was present.
If the composition is centrifugal, the Virtues will be ranked by proximity to the central subject, to emphasize those qualities. For instance in Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Allegory of Good Government, 1339, in the Palazzo Pubblico in Florence, the personification of Good Government is flanked by six virtues, left to right Pax, FORTITUDE, PRUDENCE – Good Government – Magnanimity, TEMPERANCE, JUSTICE.
Or on the Fonte Gaia in the Piazza del Campo in Siena, designed by Jacopo della Quercia in 1419, shows the Virgin with baby Jesus flanked by the Cardinal and Theological Virtues. The two closest to her are Prudence to her right and Justice to her left. The full order, left to right, Humility (?), Hope, FORTITUDE, PRUDENCE – Virgin – JUSTICE, Charity, TEMPERANCE (?), Faith.
Or in Michelino da Besozzo's illustration for Giangaleazzo's funeral oration, showing the central Virgin with Child crowning Giangaleazzo in Heaven, twleve virtues are ranged in four ranks around the center. The three “Tarot” Cardinal Virtues (known collectively as the Appetitive Virtues) are in the back row to the Virgin's right, in the order Temperance, Fortitude, Justice (or in the reverse order if we count from proximity to her). Prudence is in the row to her left and front, grouped with Piety and Mercy.
In the arch depicting Alfonso's triumph in Naples, the order is Justice, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence.
In the depiction of Borso's triumph in 1453, the order is Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, Prudence.
On a mid-15th century cassone panel, the order left to right is Justice, Charity, Fortitude, Prudence. In this instance, the iconography is pure Temperance, but she is explicitly labelled “Caritas.”
These examples are enough to demonstrate that nobody followed a canonical order or ranking of these virutes. They were ordered ad hoc, for the symbolic purpose of the composition.
Personally, I take the original order in the Tarot to have been, in ascending order, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude (I call it TIF). This is that of the Tarocco Bolognese and the Rosenwald sheet. A second option switches the positions of Justice and Fortitude, which is the order of the Charles VI and Minchiate series: Temperance, Fortitude, Justice (TFI).
I don't really have any good symbolic interpretations to offer. Maybe it depends on where the Chariot goes. If the Chariot is immediately below the Wheel of Fortune, with the order Love-Temperance-Justice-Fortitude-Chariot, then it could be that Temperance tempers passion, Justice is a balanced life, and Fortitude represents the virtue most needed for the upcoming trials of bad fortune, with the Chariot representing the man who has mastered them and is ready.
I also like that TIF spelled backwards is FIT, which is Latin for “He/She does/is doing/making” etc., which brings to mind the “active life” of that side of the Wheel. It is appropriate to spell it backwards because often the early lists of trumps and rules list them from highest to lowest, and I believe that is how they were learned at the table.