The Visconti-Sforza Tarot is among the oldest surviving tarot decks, created in mid-15th century Milan. These hand-painted, gold-leafed cards are masterpieces of Renaissance art.
The Visconti-Sforza Tarot refers to a group of tarot decks created in mid-15th century Milan, Italy, commissioned by the ruling Visconti and Sforza families. The cards are attributed to the painter Bonifacio Bembo and represent some of the earliest surviving examples of tarot cards.
During the 1440s to 1460s, a card game called "Trionfi" (Triumphs) became popular among Northern Italian aristocracy. These cards are the direct ancestors of what we now call tarot. The Visconti-Sforza decks were luxury items — hand-painted on heavy cardstock with gold leaf and rich pigments, meant for noble households rather than common use.
The most famous set, known as the Pierpont Morgan-Bergamo deck, has 74 surviving cards. These are distributed among the Morgan Library in New York, the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, Italy, and a private collection. Approximately 15 partial sets from this era have been identified by scholars.
The Visconti-Sforza cards are crucial evidence that tarot began as a game, not a divination tool. The religious and philosophical symbolism in the trump cards, while not originally intended for fortune-telling, laid the groundwork for the esoteric interpretations that developed centuries later.
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Tarot is a divination and self-exploration tool using a deck of 78 cards, consisting of 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana cards.
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