The Most Beautiful Deck in the World?
Oh, how I love the Mitelli Tarocchini.
I think it really might be the most beautiful deck in the world. Ever time I look through it I’m simply astonished by its delicacy and grace. I also love the mix of simplicity in presentation and incredible detail.
I can understand why this deck isn’t more popular. It’s “non-traditional”. To begin with it is a “Tarocchino”, a deck that has the 2-5 pips removed. Also, being a deck from Bologna, the “Popes” are different than the more common tarot decks. Instead of a Popess, Empress, Emperor, and Pope, we have a Bearded Emperor, Emperor, Seated Pope, and Standing Pope.
Other subjects are non-traditional as well.
The Bateleur is a street performer; The Lovers is shown with just Cupid, or “Love”; The Chariot has a seated Venus; “The Hermit” here is the older subject of “Time”; rather than a Hanged Man, we have a very scary Traitor; The Devil has no minions; “The Tower” goes by it’s old subject of The Lightening; a rag picker searches (with lantern!) under The Star; Diana is The Moon; Apollo The Sun; Atlas The World; and finally, instead of “Judgement” we have the older subject of “The Angel”.
For me, these unusual subjects have a very natural feeling to them. I really like the “classical” feel of this deck. I like the elegance and nobility of the characters. Somehow, I feel less distracted when looking at the subjects than I do with any other deck that comes to mind.
Yet, the deck is very detailed. Every card is so lovingly crafted, there is an abundance of detail to savor. This is true for the pips as well.
There is so much to explore in this deck, I think it’s very worthy of a good discussion.
I’ve placed the entire deck here for you to view: http://www.tarothistory.com/mitelli.html
Please join me in exploring the iconography of this treasure. What do you like? How do your thoughts when viewing these images differ from when viewing more traditional tarots? What details do you find interesting? What do you think of some of the choices Mitelli made?
The discussion on this deck is on the Tarot Forum: http://forum.tarothistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=79
Aren’t you going to update this blog anymore? The project is much too interesting to be give it up!
I love your blog and agree these cards are beautiful, somewhat reminiscent of Goya’s print (tho of course less dark) but also reminiscent of the work Edward Ardizzone, the children’s book illustrator. Do you know who published these cards?
Hi Terry,
The deck shown is published by Dal Negro, it is getting harder to find so if you like it I suggest getting a copy ASAP. Remember though that it is not a typical deck, it has a reduced number of pips, and two Popes and two Emperors rather than the usual Pope, Popess, Emperor and Empress. This puts some people off, but it seems to have been the tradition in Bologna. There is also a version by Il Meneghello that is on lovely stock, and just the line drawings without the watercolour, but for me, the colour adds a lot to my enjoyment.
Dear Robert:
I was able to find a deck of the Del Negro cards through R. Somerville playing cards. He tells me the deck is used for a card game played in Italy not for divinatory purposes. I am still learning about all of this.
Thank you for the lead. I am enjoying looking at the cards.
I look forward to following your site.
Best,
Terry
Hi Terry,
Well, it’s true that the deck was created for a game, not divinatory purposes, but you could say that about ALL historical decks! So were the Viscontis, and the Marseilles, and the Belgians, and virtually every other deck before Etteilla.
I find this deck so graphic that I would imagine it to be one of the easiest to use for reading out of all the historical decks.
Personally, I love the idea of reading with a deck that is 350 years old… and even today, you *could* play the game of tarot even with the most modern tarot such as the Bohemian Gothic or the Deviant Moon.
So yes, he’s right in that the deck was created for playing the game, but that alone is no reason not to get it if your desire is to read with it, if that were the case non of the Marseille decks would be used for divination, and we know that’s certainly not the case!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your comments. Do consider joining the forum as well if you haven’t already. http://forum.tarothistory.com
best wishes,
robert