For reference, here are the typical B orders, the chart from Game of Tarot:
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Dummett begins the chapter by giving some early lists that conform to this order, which I will summarize briefly, with my comments in brackets.
1. Anonymous, Trionphi de Tarocchi’, describes the ladies of the court of Ferrara and dates to around 1540. B order, no numbers. [titles at http://www.tarock.info/bertoni.htm]
2. Troilo Pomeran da Cittadella (a town in the Veneto),‘Triomphi composti sopra li Terrochi in Laude delle famose Gentildonne di Vinegia’. Vinegia - Venice.1520-1550, per Bertoni, but closer to second date. Marsilli says 1530-1560. B order except 4Emperor 3Popess and 2Empress (i.e. Popess and Emperor switched). [Tre tre dates it to 1534; see ms. is at http://www.tretre.it/uploads/media/Pomeran.pdf. Titles of the cards, viewtopic.php?f=11&t=552&start=0#p7877. 5 stanzas on p. 9 of Kaplan vol. 2.]
3. Leonardo Colombino, ‘Il Trionfo dei Tarocchi’, Trento 1547. B order unless Fame replaces Hanged Man. Temperance, Devil, and Popess absent, Dummett says. [Andrea Vitali at http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=199&lng=eng has in Italian and English the whole stanza on the Devil, Stanza XIX out of 86 total.]
4. Vincenzo Imperiali (Ferrara), 'Risposta' [Response], c.1551. Love and Chariot switched. [see http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Lollio_and_Imperiali,_Ferrara_1550_ca]
5. Alessandro Citolini da Serravalle (a town in the Veneto), 'La Tipocosmia’, c. 1561. Same as Pomeran, but with some different titles. [titles at http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=2936861&postcount=12 with link to page of text ]
6. Anonymous, "Discorso" c. 1570. 6th place is Prudenza, Temperanza missing. Cardinal replaces Popess as #4, King replaces Empress as #2. Fortitude and Chariot switched. This work is now available in print, in Italian and English, along with another Discorso, in Explaining the Tarot, edited and translated by Ross Sinclair Caldwell, Thierry Depaulis, and Marco Ponzi. Their introduction, p. 60, proposes on linguistic grounds that the work comes from the Marches, perhaps Pesaro.
7. Tomaso Garzoni, La Piazza Universale di tutte le Professimi del Mondo, e nobili et ignobili, [The Universal Plaza of all the Professions of the World, Noble and Ignoble], Venice, 1585. Same as #1. This list copied by Ulisse Aldrovandi (1552-1605), who makes many references to Garzoni. Garzoni plagiarized Citolini, Dummett says, because the lists almost match, as well as their lists of other games, including some rare ones. [Garzoni's titles are at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=552. Aldrovandi's are at http://trionfi.com/pratesi-cartomancer]
8. 'Steele Sermon' (Ferrara area), c. 1480. Love and Chariot switched. [http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Sermones_de_Ludo_Cum_Aliis]
Since it is known that the tarot was in Ferrara in the 15th century, Dummett concludes that it went from there to Venice and from there to Trent. No other cities are indicated.
Dummett goes on to document numerous references to the painting of tarot cards during the reign of Borso d'Este, including one for packs with 70 cards each. These could be 5x14 or 4x12 + 22, as I have said. There is also the wedding deck of Ercole d'Este. There is also the engraved Sola-Busca, designed somewhere in the Eastern region (Venice or Ferrara) and bought by someone in Venice who had it painted. Since those triumphs are numbered, he concludes that the practice of numbering triumphs in Ferrara must be from at least then, 1490. (It seems to me that they might be numbered because they are non-standard subjects.)
If so, then I would guess that the practice of considering 13 an unlucky number may well have originated then and there. Before numbers, there was no immediate association of a card with a number, just a place in the sequence. Then when type A cards got numbers, they went out of their way to avoid giving Death any other number, either leaving it unnumbered or leaving the Bagatto unnumbered. In Milan at that time, judging from the Cary Sheet, the cards did not yet have numbers.
From Alfonso I d'Este's reign (1505-1535) there are no hand-panted decks recorded, but much interest in tarot, Dummett says. Later (p. 213) he cites documents. When he refers to the "first attested use of the word 'tarocchi', that is of course before the discovery that it had been used in a similar document of the Estense court in 1505:
I would add here a late reference that Andrea Vitali found, from Alfonso's mistress of his later years, Laura Dianti, whom he left well provided for after his 1534 death (see http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=394#). An account entry in 1554 says:Nel Registro di Guardaroba del 1516 si legge che il tesoriere della corte, Sigismondo Cestarello, diede dei denari a Gian Francesco della Mirandola «per comprare dua para de tarocchi... per mandare a Belfiore», cioè ad uno dei palazzi estensi; questo è il primo uso attestato della parola «tarocchi». Deve essersi trattato di un anno in cui l’entusiasmo per il gioco aveva raggiunto livelli massimi nell’ambiente di corte, perché la stessa fonte registra anche che, nel maggio di quell’anno, il Cestarello doveva fornire alla corte «quattro para de tarocchi». In giugno furono acquistati dal mercante Luca Rossi «due para de tarocchi pel bisogno del Signore»; il duca, dunque, giocava ai Tarocchi egli stesso. Nel 1517 era stato mandato a Belfiore un altro «paio di tarocchi» tramite un ragazzo chiamato Scipione; e il 27 luglio venne pagato «uno cartolaro in S. Paulo per il pretio de uno paro de tarocchi mandati a Belfiore». Luca Rossi inviò all’altro Palazzo ducale di Codigoro sia «tarocchi» che «scartini» (un tipo di carte da gioco spesso menzionato nei documenti) 53.
The Wardrobe registry of 1516 states that the treasurer of the court, Sigismund Cestarello, gave some money to Gian Francesco della Mirandola «per comprare dua para de tarocchi... per mandare a Belfiore» ["to buy two tarot packs... to send to Belfiore"], i.e.one of the Este palaces; this is the first attested use of the word "tarocchi". It must have been a year in which the enthusiasm for the game had reached maximum levels in the environment of the court, because the same source also records that, in May of that year, the Cestarello should provide to the court «quattro para de tarocchi» [four tarot packs]. In June, were purchased from the merchant Luca Rossi "due para de tarocchi pel bisogno del Signore " [two tarot packs for the need of the Lord]; the duke, therefore, played tarot himself. In 1517 there was sent to Belfiore another "para de tarot " by a boy named Scipio; and July 27 was paid «uno cartolaro in S. Paulo per il pretio de uno paro de tarocchi mandati a Belfiore» [ "a card-seller in S. Paulo for the price of one tarot pack sent to Belfiore." Luca Rossi sent to another ducal palace of Codicote both "tarocchi" and "scartini" (a type of playing cards often mentioned in documents). (53)
___________
53. See G. Bertoni, Poesie, leggende, costumanze del medio evo [Poems, legends, customs of the Middle Ages], p. 219, and I Tarocchi, p. 102. The 'scartini' cards were for the game of Scartino. For references to Scartino, as it was played by Beatrice, Isabella, Ercole, Hippolito and Alfonso d'Este, and by Lodovico il Moro and others, see: Francesco Malacuzzi-Valeri, La corte di Lodovico il Moro [the court of Ludovico il Moro], Vol I, Milan 1913, p. 575; A. Venturi, 'Relazioni artistiche tra le corti di Milano e Ferrara nel secolo XV’, Archivio storico lombardo, anno XII [artistic relations between the courts of Milan and Ferrara in the fifteenth century ', Lombard Archives, year XII], 1885, pp. 225-80, at p. 254; Alessandro Luzio and Rudolph Render, Mantova e Urbino, Torino e Roma, 1893, pp. 63-5, in particular p. 63, note 3; the same two authors, 'Delle relazioni di Isabella d’Este Gonzaga con Lodovico e Beatrice Sforza’, Archivio storico lombardo, anno XVII ['Of the relations of Isabella d'Este Gonzaga, Lodovico and Beatrice Sforza', Archives Lombard, year XVII], 1890, p. 74-119, 346-99, 619-74, especially p. 368, note 1, and p. 379-80; A. Luzio, I precettori d’isabella d’Este [The preceptors of Isabella d'Este], Ancona, 1887, p. 22; G. Bertoni, loc, cit.; and the Diario Ferrarese 1499 in L.A. Muratori, Rerum italicarum Scriptores. Vol 24, p. 376. The first reference to this game is from 1492, the latest from 1517.
As far as printed cards, there are the sheets in the Metropolitan and Budapest museums, among others. Are they from Ferrara or Venice? After noting that they are frequently attributed to Venice, he says (p. 190):“13 luglio: Alla detta Signora soldi 10 marchesani per Sua Signoria ad uno che fa carte per il preti de uno paro de carte et uno paro de tarochi mandati al Vergenese a Sua Signoria per Alberto Basso suo lavoratore, £. 0.10.0”.
("July 13: To the aforesaid Signora, 10 soldi Marchesani for Her Ladyship to one that makes cards for the cost of one pack of cards and one pack of tarot sent to the Vergenese to Her Ladyship by her worker Alberto Basso, £. 0.10.0".)
This paragraph is not very convincing. Venetians could be expected to be quite jealous of their right to produce their own cards; in fact there is a document to that effect reputedly of 1441 (http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=323). There is no evidence that the Sola-Busca was produced in Ferrara as opposed to Venice. Similar art existed in both Ferrara and Venice. In fact it has since been linked to an artist in Ancona (viewtopic.php?f=11&t=988&p=14771&hilit=Ancona+Sola#p14771). There is an adequate number of references to tarot in the Veneto, if not as many as in Ferrara, if those not in any order are included, e.g. Aretino's Carte Parlante, written in Venice). Another is the 1521 comedy by Notturno Napolitano, Il Giuoco de' Trionfi, about which, in English, see http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=254&lng=ENG. The full text in archaic Italian is at http://trionfi.com/notturno-tarocchi. That the title explicitly refers to tarot says something about Venetians' presumed interest in the game.La realtà è, comunque, che non sembra che il gioco dei Tarocchi sia mai stato molto popolare fra i Veneziani. Sappiamo dai ‘Triomphi’ di Troilo Pomeran che era noto a Venezia nel Cinquecento; ma a quel tempo il gioco veneziano più in voga era la Trappola, giocata con il mazzo normale, ridotto a trentasei carte scartando le carte dal 3 al 6 di ciascun seme. Questo gioco potrebbe essere stato influenzato dai Tarocchi e forse averli influenzati a sua volta. Quanto alle carte, non c’è nessuna prova che le carte da tarocchi siano mai state fabbricate a Venezia; i tarocchi Soia-Busca rappresentano l’unico mazzo per il quale possiamo attestare un legame con Venezia ed esso fu prodotto a Ferrara. Probabilmente non sono mai esistiti ‘tarocchi di Venezia’.
(The reality is, however, that it seems that the game of tarot has never been very popular among the Venetians. We know the 'Triumphi' of Troilus Pomeran, who was known in Venice in the sixteenth century; but at that time, the most popular Venetian game was Trappola, played with the standard pack, reduced to thirty-six cards by discarding the 3-6 cards of each suit. This game could have been influenced by Tarot and perhaps have influenced it in turn. As for the cards, there is no evidence that the tarot cards were ever made in Venice; the Sola-Busca cards are the only tarot pack to which we can attest to a link with Venice, and it was produced in Ferrara. There probably never existed a 'Tarot of Venice'.)
Dummett tries to link the Budapest cards with those of some known normal deck, especially that of Trappola, the most popular game in Venice. But he knows of none, except three other sheets of suit cards whose origin is also unknown (which he calls the Donson, Cary and Vitoria). Lacking Italian cards, Dummett goes to Central Europe, where Trappola emigrated in the 17th century when it died out in Venice. These cards look Italian, he says, but nothing like any of the sheets' suit cards. He cannot imagine Venice putting out two such dissimilar patterns for normal decks at the same time (on top of their known standard model for normal decks, I presume) and on that basis they must be from Ferrara. I have perhaps oversimplified or misstated Dummett's argument. Here is the end of it (p. 203):
He does not talk much about the triumphs. Are they Ferrarese? Here is Dummett's description (p. 192):Questo modello originario delle carte da Trappoloa, portato nell’Europa Centrale, ci fornisce, dunque, un particolare modello standard veneziano usato fino al 1640 e risalente presumibilmente all’inizio del Cinquecento. Se decidiamo che il tipo di carte esemplificato dai mazzi Budapest, Donson, Cary e Vitoria, è veneziano, dobbiamo dedurne che i fabbricanti di quella città introdussero due repentini cambiamenti nell’arco di centocinquanta anni. Cambiamenti repentini si verificano davvero nel disegno delle carte da gioco nell’ambito di una singola area: talvolta, quando viene inventato un nuovo modello standard, più spesso quando ne viene importato uno da un’altra località. Nel nostro caso, tuttavia, né il modello della Trappoloa né il modello veneziano (o trevisano) moderno erano invasori esterni: senza una simile pressione dall’esterno, non pare plausibile che i giocatori veneziani siano stati così volubili nella loro lealtà ai disegni tradizionali. La sola conclusione naturale è che il tipo distintivo delle carte dei semi del ‘mazzo Budapest’ non abbia avuto nessun rapporto con Venezia, ma che il ‘mazzo Budapest’ provenga dalla città che sappiamo essere stata uno dei primi famosi centri della manifattura di carte da gioco, Ferrara.
(This original model of the Trappola cards brought into Central Europe gives us, therefore, a particular Venetian standard model used until 1640 and probably dating from the early sixteenth century. If we decide that the type of card packs exemplified by the Budapest, Donson, Cary and Vitoria, is Venetian, we must infer that the manufacturers of that city introduced two sudden changes over a hundred and fifty years. Rapid changes occur in the very design of playing cards within a single area: sometimes, when a new standard model is invented, most often when it is one imported from another location. In our case, however, neither the model nor the Venetian (or Trevisan) model of Trappola were modern foreign invaders: without such pressure from the outside, it does not seem plausible that Venetian players were so fickle in their loyalty to traditional designs. The only natural conclusion is that the type of distinctive cards of the 'Budapest deck' has had no relationship with Venice, but that the ' Budapest deck' originates from the city that we know was one of the first famous centers of the manufacture of cards game, Ferrara.)
A nice place to view these images is at https://tarotmeditations.wordpress.com/decks/budapest-metropolitan/. What strikes me is the similarity of many of these designs to those of Milan as opposed to other places. A young woman holding the Moon is like the PMB. A tower in a pastoral setting fits the Cary Sheet, attributed to c. 1500 Milan. Someone defeating a lion is characteristic of the PMB. Death riding a horse is like the PMB. The Hanged Man with his hands behind his back and without money bags is like Milan's. A bearded, walking Fool is characteristic of Milan. However the Devil is that of the Beaux Arts/Rothschild, Love is that of the Rosenwald and Minchiate, The four people with the Bagatto is like Minchiate. The order of trumps, however--with their numbers on the card--is that characteristic of Ferrara.Non occorre precisare il disegno di ogni carta, ma solo quelli difficili da indovinare. Il Mondo è rappresentato da un angelo che regge un globo, le braccia abbassate. Il Sole, con volto e raggi, risplende su un bosco di quattro alberi. Una giovane nuda (eccetto che per un perizoma) regge la Luna in alto; un uomo nudo regge la Stella, presso un albero. Il trionfo XV raffigura una torre quadrata, con una grande porta e una scaletta alla base; un fulmine dà fuoco alla cima della torre. Il Diavolo, con una faccia sulle reni e gli artigli ai piedi, tiene un forcone. La Morte va a cavallo reggendo una falce. L’Eremita regge una lanterna e porta il bastone; indossa un gran cappello. La Fortuna è assente dalla Ruota: la figura discendente e quella al nadir sono umane, ma quella ascendente ha la testa di animale, e quella al culmine è del tutto animale. La Fortezza sconfigge un leone. Il Carro ha la forma di un enorme conca, trainata da cavalli, nel quale stanno fanciulli vestiti e un putto alato ritto su di un globo. Il Bagatto siede all’angolo di un tavolo, mentre due uomini e due donne stanno dietro di lui. Il Bagatto non è barbuto, e indossa un cappello floscio; sul tavolo ci sono vari oggetti. Il Matto è un vecchio barbuto, che cammina a destra, e indossa un cappello e una cappa con campanelli.
(There is no need to specify the design of every card, but only of those hard to guess. The World is represented by an angel holding a globe, arms lowered. The Sun with a face and rays shining on a forest of four trees. A young woman, naked (except for a loincloth), holds the moon at the top; a naked man holds the star, in a tree. Triumph XV depicts a square tower, with a large door and a ladder at the base; lightning sets fire to the top of the tower. The Devil, with a face on the abdomen and claw feet, holds a pitchfork. Death carrying a scythe rides a horse. The Hermit holds a lantern and holds a staff; he wears a large hat. Fortune is absent from the Wheel: the descending figure and that on the bottom are human, but the ascending one has the head of an animal, and that on top is the whole animal. Fortitude defeats a lion. The Chariot has the shape of a huge basin, pulled by horses, on which are clothed children and a winged cherub standing on a globe. The Bagatto is seated at the corner of a table while two men and two women are behind him. The Bagatto is not bearded and wears a floppy hat; There are various objects on the table. The Fool is an old bearded man, who walks to the right, wearing a hat and a hood with bells.)
He hypothesizes that the numbering of trumps began in Ferrara (p. 203f):
His reason for "1490" is that the Sola-Busca trumps, which probably were painted in 1491, also are numbered. It seems to me that the Sola-Busca's might have been numbered because the trumps were so non-standard that no one would recognize them. It is of interest that the designs of the 'Budapest' are probably before 1490.Sembra probabile che proprio a Ferrara venisse adottata per la prima volta la pratica di numerare i trionfi. Non solo il ‘mazzo Budapest’ è l’unico fra quelli quattrocenteschi pervenutici in cui essi erano tutti numerati, ma il ‘sermone Steele’ contiene, come abbiamo visto, l’unica lista antica di trionfi che fornisca anche ì numeri. Poiché l’ordine, in quella lista, è di tipo B, il sermone sarà stato predicato a Ferrara o nelle sue vicinanze; pertanto, la pratica di numerare i trionfi in quella zona risale almeno al 1490 circa. Sappiamo che essa fu adottata a Bologna solo trecento anni più tardi; e ci sono anche prove
(It seems likely that the practice of numbering the triumphs was adopted for the first time in Ferrara. Not only is the 'Budapest pack' the only surviving fifteenth century one in which they were all numbered, but the 'Steele sermon' contains, as we have seen, the only ancient list of triumphs that also provides numbers. Because the order in the list is of type B, the sermon was preached in Ferrara or nearby; Therefore, the practice of numbering the triumphs in that area dates back to at least 1490. We know that it was only adopted in Bologna three hundred years later; and there is also evidence that it was not adopted in Milan until the sixteenth century. Even so, the designs of the triumphs of the 'Budapest pack' are probably prior to the addition of numerals, considering the awkward way in which the numerals were forced into every available space.)
Next Dummett discusses the Boiardo "tarot" poem (he died 1494) and the cards to be made from it. It is online in Italian and English at http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Boiardo. Dummett says (p. 208):
Actually, there are a few correspondences. Besides Fortitude, there is Time, a title sometmes given to the Hermit. Also "Chance" is close to "Fortune", and "Desire" to "Love". There may be others. This fifth suit was called by the editor "Triumph of the World", or, later "Triomph of the Vain World", of which Dummett says (p. 204):Doveva esserci anche un Matto, chiamato dal Boiardo «el Folle» e, in contrasto con la pratica consueta, da lui identificato con il Mondo. C’erano anche ventun trionfi, rappresentanti ciascuno una qualità e raffiguranti altri personaggi storici pertinenti: così la Perseveranza era simboleggiata da Penelope, l’Ozio, il trionfo più basso, da Sardanapalo e la Fortezza, il più alto, da Lucrezia. Non c’erano corrispondenze fra questi soggetti dei trionfi e quelli del normale mazzo di tarocchi. Ciascuna di queste settantotto carte doveva recare una terzina descrittiva composta dal Boiardo; in aggiunta, dovevano esserci due carte, recanti ciascun un suo sonetto.
There was to be a Fool, called by Boiardo "el Folle”, and, in contrast to the usual practice, he identified it with the World. There were also twenty-one triumphs, each representing a quality and depicting other historical relevant characters: thus Perseverance was symbolized by Penelope, the Ozio, the lowest, triumph, by Sardanapalus, and Fortitude, the highest, by Lucrezia. There were no matches between these subjects and those of the triumphs of the regular pack of tarot cards. Each of the seventy-eight cards was to bear a descriptive triplet composed of Boiardo; in addition, there would have been two cards, each bearing one of his sonnets.
The suits were Fear, Jealousy, Love, and Hope, represented by Whips, Eyes, Arrows, and Vases. Thus there are two negative and two positive suits. The poem was printed in 1523 Venice, while a manuscript, called the Illustrazione, described the designs the cards should have and the game itself. It was writen Pier Antonio Viti da Urbino (1470-1500), addressed to a lady in Urbino. The manuscript says that the low cards are most powerful in Whips and Eyes, and the high cards more powerful in Arrows and Vases. Dummett notes (p. 206) that in 1971 a deck of 48 cards conforming to these designs was sold at auction and then resold to a Swiss collector. Dummett surmises that they are the same as those described and illustrated by Romain Merlin, in 1869 (L'Origine des cartes a jouer, pp. 94-6 and table 28).Questo titolo ben si accorda con l’idea di Gertrude Moakley che i trionfi del mazzo dei tarocchi fossero così chiamati perché erano visti come rappresentazione di un corteo trionfale allegorico. I due sonetti da stampare su carte separate sono insieme ai cinque capitoli.
(This title fits in well with the idea of Gertrude Moakley that the triumphs of the tarot pack were so called because they were seen as an allegorical representation of a triumphal procession.)
Another B deck is the Rouen cards (these days more usually called the Leber, for the name of the collector), of which seven triumphs remain, most with Arabic numerals (I give the usual English name in brackets; there appear to be two written subjects, one in Latin and one in Italian):
Number, written subject, corresponding standard subject
16 Incjjtum Sydus, Stella, [the Star]
14 Perditorum Raptor, Plutone, [the Devil]
11 Rerum Edax, Saturno, [the Hermit]
10 Omnium Dominatrix, Fortuna, [Wheel]
7 Victoriae Premium, Carro, [Chariot]
5 Pontifex Pontificum, Pontifice, [Pope]
Imperator Assiriorum, Imperatore assiro, [Emperor] [/quote]
There is also a Fool, unnumbered, with the words "Velim fundam dari mihi".
These can be seen at http://trionfi.com/0/j/d/leber/, with a translation of the Latin.
From the numbers, it is possible to deduce that the deck is of type B:
Finally, there are nine cards in a deck in the Museo delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari [Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions] in Rome, of which four are triumphs, with Roman numerals: Love (VIII), the Hanged Man (XII), the Star (XVI) and the Sun (XVIII). It is is probably type B, Dummett says (p. 209):Se l’ordine dei trionfi del mazzo di Rouen assomigliava ad uno di quelli noti da altre fonti, doveva trattarsi del tipo B. Per il fatto che la Stella reca il numero 16 sono possibili due sole spiegazioni. La prima è che ci siano cinque trionfi superiori alla Stella: questo accade solo nell’ordine di tipo B, in cui la Giustizia è il secondo trionfo più alto. La seconda è che ci siano solo quattro trionfi più alti della Stella, così che la numerazione arrivi solo fino a 20. In alcuni casi questo si verifica davvero perché il trionfo più basso è lasciato senza numero e la numerazione parte da 1 con la seconda carta più bassa. Non pare che questo sia possibile per il mazzo di Rouen, altrimenti la carta corrispondente al Papa recherebbe il numero 4 e non 5. Inoltre, la particolarità di lasciare senza numero il trionfo più basso e di numerare il resto da 1 a 20 è presente solo in ordini di tipo A. In tutti gli ordini di tipo A le tre virtù sono immediatamente consecutive l’una all’altra nella gerarchia, mentre fra i trionfi di Rouen pervenutici non c’è spazio per tre carte consecutive. Possiamo pertanto escludere la seconda possibilità e concludere che l’ordine dei trionfi nel mazzo di Rouen è di tipo B.
(If the order of the Rouen trump cards looked like one known from other sources, it had to be type B. For the fact that the star bears number 16 only two explanations are possible. The first is that there are five triumphs above the Star: this happens only in the order of type B, in which Justice is the second highest triumph. The second is that there are only four triumphs higher than the Star, so that the numbering goes only up to 20. In some cases this occurs because really the lowest triumph is left without number and numbering starts at 1 with the second lowely card. I do not think that this is possible for the pack of Rouen, otherwise the card corresponding to the Pope would bear the number 4 and not 5. Moreover, the particularity of leaving without number the the lowest triumph, the rest numbered from 1 to 20, is only present in type A orders. In all orders of type A the three virtues are immediately consecutive with each other in the hierarchy, while among the surviving triumphs of Rouen there is no room for three consecutive cards. We can therefore rule out the second possibility and conclude that the order of the trumps in the pack of Rouen is type B.)
The triumphs are skillfully done, Dummett says; XVI and XVIII seem to illustrate scenes from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, as Kaplan suggests (vol. 2), a Ferrarese book dedicated to Ippolite d'Este written with the Estense in mind. The lovers in VI could be Ruggioro and Bramante, whom Boiardo in his Orlando Inamorato had declared the founders of the d'Este family, an attribution that Ariosto continues.Come nel mazzo di Rouen, la numerazione della Stella e del Sole, rispettivamente, come XVI e XVIII, indica o un ordine di tipo B o uno di tipo A in cui non sia numerato il trionfo più basso. In questo secondo caso, la numerazione dell’Amore come Vili lascerebbe alle virtù la possibilità di occupare tre posti consecutivi sotto di esso. Esiste tuttavia solo un ordine di tipo A in cui le virtù valgono meno dell’Amore, e quest’ultimo reca quindi il numero Vili. È quello che si trova nel Tarocco siciliano, risalente al XVII secolo. Il gruppo di carte nel Museo delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari è sicuramente del XVI. Poiché l’Amore occupa l’ottavo posto nella maggior parte degli ordini di tipo B, possiamo essere praticamente certi che l’ordine dei trionfi in questo mazzo è di quel tipo.
(As in the pack of Rouen, the numbering of the Star and the Sun, respectively, as XVI and XVIII, indicates an order of type B, or one of type A in which the lowest triumph is not numbered. In this second case, the numbering of Love VIII is such as to leave the possibility of the virtues occupying three consecutive positions below it. However, there is only one order of type A in which the virtues are valued less than love, so that the latter will bear the number VIII. It is in the Sicilian Tarot, dating back to the seventeenth century. The group of cards in the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions is definitely sixteenth. Because Love is the eighth in the majority of B-type orders, we can be pretty sure that the order of the trumps in this pack is of that type.)
Since these cards have not, as far as I can tell, been discussed much, it is perhaps worth quoting Kaplan and showing them. Here is Kaplan (vol. 2 p. 287), followed by the cards as pictured in his book (p. 288) :
There is also a design on the backs of eight of the cards:Card XVI, and possibly cards VIII and XVIIII, refers to Orlando Furioso, by the Italian poet Ariosto (Group 4 of the Sfoza Castle cards also shows a scene from Orlando Furioso, on its back designs.) The scene on card XVI is of the fight between Orlando and Rodomond, a pagan. Orlando, in a state of madness, has thrown away his armor and is naked. They wrestle on a bridge that Rodomond built in remorse for killing his beloved, Isabella. Rodomond challenges all kngihts to combat on the bridge, in honor of Isabella. The bridge is situated near Isabella's tomb, probably shown as a mausoleum on the right of the card's picture. Orlando overcomes Rodomond in the struggle when they both fall in the water and Rodomond is too encumbered by his armor.
Card XVIIII depicts a nude man uprooting a tree. In the background is a fountain withan ornament on top. Possibly this card depicts Orlando in a state of madness. In Orlando Innamorato, the epic poem to which Orlando Furioso is a sequel, there are two fountains, one whose waters evoke love in those who drink from it, and another whose waters evoke hatred. Possibly the fountain in the background is one of these.
Card VIII may show the wedding feast of Rogero, a Saracen knight who converts to Christianity, and Bradamant, the maiden warrior. The scene takes place indoors, on a tiled floor. Cupid is overhead, along with another figure whose identity is unclear. Two musicians, a man playing a cello and a woman playing a lute, are in the foreground. The lovers kiss in the background.
The ninth card, a 7 of Swords, has a different scene, "according to Michael Dummett, two palm trees"; its face is identical to another 7 of Swords in the main group.Their matching back designs show nude, winged Orpheus or Cupid playing a viol, with a quiver of arrows on his back. He stands in a hilly landscape.
Comparing these cards to others, it seems to me that Love is similar to the Budapest (as well as to most other early Love cards, except the "Charles VI") in having the two lovers plus Cupid, but there are also musicians in the foreground; the Hanged Man is similar to the Budapest in that there are no money bags, but the poles are columns rather than poles. The bent leg are not like in the "Charles VI" (where it doesn't cross the other) and Beaux Arts/Rothschild sheet (only slightly bent, as in the Budapest), but as in the Rosenwald and PMB, forming a kind of cross. The pips are nothing like the Budapest, Dummett says.
From the dissimilarity in skill and in designs between these cards and the Budapest, I would think Venice is suggested for the Budapest, because Ferrara was renowned for the high quality of its artists". but that is not Dummett's view.
There is also one card that was found on the site of medieval Cairo, suggesting that such cards were exported. Dummett says (p. 212f):
These "Cary" suit cards are a product of the enigmatic workshop that produced the "Budapest" tarot. Again, I would think that cards exported to Cairo would more likely be Venetian rather than Ferrarese. The back shows a man fighting a lion, which is typical of the Budapest (and also the PMB).La carta del ‘mazzo Cary’ del Museo Benaki attesta l’esportazione delle carte da gioco ferraresi in Egitto durante il XV secolo. La metà di un 8 di Bastoni, molto simile a quello del Museo di Roma, salvo che i Bastoni si intersecano invece di essere intrecciati, fu scoperta fra documenti medievali a Fostat (il sito antico del Cairo). Questo frammento può indicare una continua esportazione di carte, da gioco ferraresi in Egitto fino alla conquista degli Ottomani nel 1517.
(The 'Cary' card in the the Benaki Museum attests to the export of Ferrarese playing cards into Egypt during the fifteenth century. Half of an 8 of Batons, very similar to that of the Rome Museum, except that the batons intersect instead of being twisted, was discovered among medieval documents at Fostat (the site of old Cairo). This fragment may indicate a continued export of Ferrarese playing cards into Egypt until the Ottoman conquest in 1517.)
Last, Dummett cites Lollio and Imperali again, plus two "tarot appropriati" sources that cite the tarot. One is "Due Sonetti Amorosi", two sonnets to a Lady Mamma Riminaldi. The first has the lines:
I would note that in the anonymous "tarot appropriati" in which a different card is assigned to each of 22 ladies of Ferrara, Mamma Riminaldi gets the Fool card:... han solo ricetto
Quelli, che maj si pardon ne i tarocchi,
Come è Giovanmaria matto famoso:
Chi li vuol dunque haver degno riposo.
Buon è che privo sia d’ogni inteletto:
Poi che ne vano al ciel tutti li sciocchi.
(...they have only refuge,
Those whom the tarot never pardons,
What a a famous fool is Giovanmaria:
Who wants them is therefore worthy of having rest.
Good is one devoid of any intellect:
Then go to heaven all the fools.)
Dummett also quotes the end of the second sonnet (p. 213):La S. Mamma Riminaldi. - Nulla val la beltà senza pazzia.
(The Lady Mamma Riminaldi - Beauty is worth nothing without craziness.)
Mary Greer has a translation of the whole sonnet on her blog (http://marygreer.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/webinar-part-2-of-cartomancers-in-western-art/):Però dee creder fermamente ognuno
Ch’un spirito malvagio habbia costej
Sopposta solamente al Bagattino,
Per poter dire i buon tarocchi mej
Saran, s’avien ch’io giuochi, et de questi uno
Vo trare il Matto che è cervel divino.
The Italian version of both sonnets, plus a prose translation of the entire first one, can be found in Andrea Vitali's essay at http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=199&lng=ENG.It seems that the angel, star, sun, and moon,
With the world, and all who desire to live with it,
Hate the beauty that the skies gather
In the proud face of Madam Mamma.
Perhaps among these goddesses there is one
who strips men of good, for love of fortitude,
That is, not for death or evil fortune,
Who from her firm will cannot be turned:
But surely everybody ought to believe
An evil spirit, following only the Bagatino,
Must possess this woman in order for her
to be able to say: “the good tarot shall be
mine, to be able to play as I please, and I draw
this one, the Fool, who is the brain divine.”
In 1580 there is also Tasso's Romeo: (p. 215):
For one more tarot reference in this dialogue, plus a reference in a 1575 letter of Tasso's, in Italian only, see http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=207#Annibal Pocaterra:... E poi ch’in questa compagnia non era per me luogo alla primiera, ho eletto anzi di rimirar giuoco piacevole che di sfidarmi con alcuno a Trappola o a sbaraglino.
Margherita Bentivoglia: Avresti trovati compagni da tarocchi.
A.P.: A tal giuoco non ricuserei di giocare.
(Annibal Pocaterra: In this company since there was no place for me to play primero I preferred looking instead for a pleasant and challenging game of Trappolla or Sbaraglino with someone.
Margaret Bentivoglia: You would have found company for Tarot.
A. P.: I would not refuse to play such a game. (54).
__________________
54. T. Tasso, Dialogues, critical edition edited by Ezio Raimondi, Vol III, Florence, 1958, p. 510.)
In the 17th century, Dummett writes, tarot disappeared from Ferrara (p. 216):
Checking another source, I see that Andrea found one report of tarot being mentioned in the 17th century, in Notizie relative a Ferrara (Information Related to Ferrara), an 1864 book by Luigi Napoleone Cittadella, director of the City Library of Ferrara (http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=288&lng=ENG and http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=288). However it is in 1607, and after that, nothing. Cittadella reports, in Chapter XVIII, "Games and Repressive laws":Malgrado le sue tre mogli, Alfonso II non ebbe eredi legittimi. Papa Clemente Vili si rifiutò di riconoscere come successore Cesare d’Este, un cugino germano di Alfonso ma dì discendenza illegittima, e reclamò Ferrara sotto il diretto governo papale. Nel 1598, Lucrezia d’Este, duchessa dì Urbino e sorella di Alfonso, rinunciò per conto di Cesare alle pretese degli Estensi su Ferrara; Cesare si stabilì a Modena e il cardinale Pietro Aldobrandini entrò a Ferrara per governarla in nome del Papato. Si estinse così la luce scintillante di Ferrara; essa precipitò nella mediocrità e non ebbe più parte alcuna nella storia politica e artistica. Scomparsi erano i poeti; scomparsi, per la maggior parte, pittori e musicisti; scomparsa la corte brillante. Insieme a queste cose importanti, scomparve anche il gioco dei Tarocchi dalla città che aveva visto tanti appassionati giocatori.
(Despite his three wives, Alfonso II had no legitimate heirs. Pope Clement VIII refused to recognize as successor Cesare d'Este, a cousin of Alfonso but illegitimate offspring, and claimed Ferrara under direct papal rule. In 1598, Lucrezia d' Este, Duchess of Urbino and Alfonso 's sister, gave up on behalf of Cesare the claims of the Este to Ferrara; Cesare settled in Modena and Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini came to Ferrara to govern in the name of the Papacy. The shining light of Ferrara became extinguished; it fell into mediocrity and no longer had any part in political history and art. The poets disappeared; the majority of its painters and musicians disappeared; the brilliant court disppeared. Along with these important things, the game of Tarot also disappeared from the city that had seen many passionate players.
But in the next edict prohibiting card games that Cittadella reports, of 1628, and all edicts following, there is no mention of Tarocco at all. Citadella continues:Posteriormente al governo degli Estensi, nel 18 giugno 1607 Orazio Spinola card. legato di Ferrara proibisce con editto i giuochi dei dadi e delle carte, meno quelli di ricreazione come Primiera, Picchetto, Tarocco e simili.
(Subsequent to the government of the Estensi, on June 18, 1607, Orazio Spinola, cardinal legate of Ferrara, prohibits with edicts games of dice and cards, except in recreation Primiera, Piccheto, Tarot and the like.)
With such penalties, what is surprising that card games survived at all. Why tarot in particular is not mentioned after 1607 remains an unexplained mystery, given that other card games endured despite repression.Con altro editto del 1628, che venne ristampato e ripubblicato colle stesse parole un secolo dopo, cioè nel 1728, si proibiscono i giuochi di Bassetta, Faraone, Biribisso, Torzetta bianca e rossa, Girello, Dicidotto, Ochetta, Dadi e qualsiasi altro di ventura, con la pena della galera per cinque anni pei giuocatori, e di tre tratti di corda per quelli che staranno a vedere; con questo inoltre che quelli, che saranno trovati in stanze a giocare colle porte chiuse, si avranno per convinti che giuocassero a giuochi prohibiti. Nel 1676 il card. Marescotti legato, con editto del 3 novembre, proibisce di tener giuochi dell'Anca o Biribisso, nè dare o ricevere denaro pei lotti di Genova e di Milano, giuocare a carte, a dadi, a riffa, sotto gravi pene e multe. Finalmente, il legato d'Elci nel 29 decembre del 1741 riproduceva l'editto della Segreteria di Stato del 18 detto mese, proibendo i giuochi di Biribisso, Torretta, Girello, Auca e Roletta, con comminatoria della galera, o della relegazione".
(With another edict of 1628, which was reprinted and republished in the same words a century later, in 1728, are prohibited the games of Bassetta, Faraone [Pharaoh], Biribisso, Torzetta white and red, Girello, Dicidotto, Ochetta, Dice, and any other venture, with the penalty of five years in prison for gamblers, and three sections of rope for those who stand and watch; with this addition, those found in rooms gambling behind closed doors, who have to be believed playing prohibited games. In 1676 the cardinal legate Marescotti, in an edict of November 3, prohibits keeping the games Anca or Biribisso, nor giving or receive money by lots in Genoa and Milan, from playing at cards, dice, raffles, under severe penalties and fines. Finally, the law of Elci on December 29 of 1741 reproduced the edict of the Secretary of State of the 18th of that month, prohibiting the games of Biribisso, Torretta, Girello, Auca and Roletta, on pain of jail or confinement.)
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