The Tarot of Dante Wolfgang Peretti Poggi, 1983 This rare 78-card deck is based on the literary work of Dante Alighieri, the Florentine poet who lived from 1265 to 1321. The paintings by Wolfgang Peretti Poggi are in the style of Giotto, who lived during the time of Dante. There are scenes here from a variety of Dante’s works, most notably The Divine Comedy, as well as scenes from the Old and New Testaments and from Greek mythology.

The full title of the deck is I Tarocchi di Dante e Dei Fedeli d’Amore, or The Tarot of Dante and the Believers of Love. The name refers to a confraternity of poets(1) to which Dante belonged, a confraternity whose literature was critical of the Catholic Church. Dante himself condemned one Roman pontiff as a “pastor without law” and depicted him in the realms of Hell for having betrayed the Templars to the king of France (Inferno XXXII). According to Athos Altomonte(2),

The Believers of Love hid in the semblance of woman the principle of the individual spirit. He himself [Dante] said of them: “Ghibellines all, these poets of love; sweethearts, all, of women whose very resemblance makes one think on a single woman; and all cloak from the same symbolism.” At the time of Dante (the Believers of Love exist up to the present), participants included: Guido Guinizzelli, head of the literary school and Guido postillion, Cino of Pistoia, Francisco of Barberino, and Cecco of Ascoli (who ended on a funeral pyre as a heretic), Guido Orlandi and Gianni Alfani. Each conspired against a corrupt Church which they called “the ferocious she-wolf of Rome”. They lived for love of the Virgin – Sophia, the Wisdom saint, who conducts man from the earth to the heavens and from death to life.

The booklet for this deck gives a detailed introduction, although it is entirely in Italian. Each card is also explained with quotes from the literary sources. The references are marked clearly enough so that even those not familiar with the Italian language could find the corresponding passages in the original literature. Trump I, shown above, depicts Dante as ‘the craftsman at work.’ When asked what man of flesh has entered the circles of Purgatory, Dante responds: “To tell you who I am would be in vain, because my name has still but small renown.”(Purgatory XIV: 20-21) The Hermit, also shown above, depicts the poet Virgil “who gave me hope, and lit the way for me”(Purgatory IV). The Divine Comedy casts Virgil as Dante’s personal escort through the circles of Hell and Purgatory. Dante’s reverence toward him is seen in the verse attributed to this card(3):

O courteous soul of Mantua, you are my master and my very author: It is from you alone that I have taken the lofty style for which men honor me.

The central card above is The Ace of Swords which illustrates Dante first approaching the Gates of Purgatory (Purgatory IX). At the summit of steps was a doorway which appeared to Dante as “a rock of adamant,” and before the threshold sat an angel who “wore a garment of a dusky hue.” As instructed by Virgil, Dante approached the angel and entreated him to open the locked door.

Devoutly at the holy feet I fell, beseeching him to open unto me; But first upon my breast I struck three times, Upon my forehead seven P’s he traced with his sword’s point, saying “See that thou wash these scars away, when thou hast entered in!”

The Eight of Coins, shown above, illustrates the parable of the talents. This card does not allude to The Divine Comedy but to another work of Dante titled Of Monarchy, in which he wrote a commentary on this parable:

All men in which the superior nature has induced a love of Truth must stretch their restraint to maximum: that therefore as they have been enriched by their work, they must equally put themselves to work for posterity so that posterity can grow rich through them. Certainly and surely, very far away from true respect is he who is nourished by public instruction yet has no care for yielding their contribution to the public good; and who effectively behaves not as the tree that, thanks to the varied course of the waters, is fructified in its time, but as a deadly abyss is always ready to swallow, never to pay back what was swallowed.

Much of the art in this deck understandably has a dark flavor to it. The Ten of Clubs depicts a scene from Inferno Canto XXI and XXII, where Dante and Virgil are confronted by a fierce demon who seeks to attack them. Dante hides under a bridge, but Virgil stops the demon Malacoda by declaring that their passage is “will divine and fate’s decree.” Malacoda was thereby appeased, but told the travelers that the route they were taking was obstructed by a broken bridge.

But if you still desire to pass beyond, then take your way along this precipice; another bridge lies near that you can cross . . . In that direction I must send some demons To see if any sinners air themselves; You can go with them, for they will not harm you. Come forward Alichino, Calcabrina, he ordered them, “And you, Cagnazzo, too; let Barbariccia command the ten. Come hither Libicoccio, Draghignazzo, Ciriatto with the tusks, And Grafficane, and Farfarello, and mad Rubicante. Go, and search the boiling pitch, And see that these are unmolested, Till you reach the next unbroken bridge that spans the valley.”

Dante begs against the frightening journey, but is reassured by his master. And so:

With the ten demons on our way we went. Bad company, indeed! But, as they say: “To church with saints, and to the inn with gluttons!”

Another demon is shown above in The Ace of Coins which depicts Pluto, the ruler and guardian of the underworld. Dante and Virgil meet this demon in Canto 7 of Inferno. The deck’s booklet describes him as “son of Jason and Demeter, god of the rich; to others Pluto, son of Saturn, gentleman from Averno, the guardian, the Great Adversary.” The Four of Swords, above right, is reminiscent of the Waite-Smith version of this card, but here it depicts four historical heroes of Italy: Camila, Euryalus, Turnus and Nixus. They are referenced in a scene from Inferno Canto I, when Dante first meets Virgil and asks to be saved from the She-wolf of Hell. Virgil explains that this Wolf is so evil and voracious that it must be overcome by a greater beast:

That Hound who shall not feed upon the land or riches, But on wisdom, love and valor. His fatherland shall lie between the Feltres: The savior, he, of fallen Italy for whom the maid Camilla died, And Turnus, Euryalus, and Nixus shed their blood. Through every city he shall drive her on Until again she takes her place in hell, Whence envy sent her forth to plague mankind.

The Nine of Swords, above left, is an illustration of Jason and the Argonauts, “those glorious voyagers who sailed to Colchis”(Paradise II: 16). Hanging over the side of the ship we see the Golden Fleece, which was finally acquired by Jason and his men after many adventures and trials. The illustration also alludes to passages(4) from a work entitled Fiore, whose authorship is not certain although many scholars attribute it to the hand of Dante. Another scene from Greek mythology can be seen in The Three of Cups, shown below. The cyclops Polyphemus had captured Ulysses and his men, holding them as prisoner until it was their time to be dinner. Here we see him in his cave, guarding the entrance lest Ulysses’ crew escape. Ulysses hatched the plan to sweet talk the cyclops and get him drunk. Once Polyphemus fell asleep, Ulysses blinded him by a stab to the eye, while all the men tied themselves to the bellies of the cyclop’s herd of large sheep. Once he had been blinded, Polyphemus had to feel each sheep as they left the cave to pasture, but of course he did not discover the escaping men.

As Virgil is Dante’s guide through the realms of Hell and Purgatory, Beatrice is his guide through Paradise. In the highest Trump, The World, we see Beatrice conveying to Dante the mystical revelation of celestial forces. The mount of Purgatory and the gate of Hell can be seen at the top and bottom of Earth’s sphere. The associated passage is from The Paradise Canto 22:

O glorious stars! O pregnant light of mighty power, The source whence all my genius is derived . . . “Thou art so near to ultimate salvation,” said Beatrice to me, “It now behooves thee to keep your eyes both clear and sharp. Therefore before you enter farther in, Look down again upon the mighty world Which I have here set out before thy feet, So that thy heart, in all its utmost joy, may show itself to the triumphant throng exulting here in this ethereal round.” Through all those seven spheres that I had crossed, I gazed again, and saw our earthly globe – So paltry that I smiled on its expanse . . . The seven spheres were all displayed to me – How vast is their extent, how great their speed, How far apart they are in their abodes. As I revolved with those immortal twins, I saw entire, with hills and river mouths, That trivial threshing floor which maddens us; And then my eyes sought those of Beatrice.

The deck is printed in deep colors with touches of gold and silver ink. It is also fairly large at 3.5 x 6.25, and packaged along with the booklet in a red leatherette box. The deck was published in 1983 by Editorali D’Ami in Milan, Italy.

Review by Mark Filipas, 11/17/00

(1) See Nardini: Dante and the Believers of Love, and Luigi Valli: The Secret Language of Dante and the Believers of Love. (2) From an article by Athos Altomonte: http://www.esonet.org/scripts/vis_articoli.asp?codice=621 (3) This passage is a merging of verse from Inferno Canto I: 58 and II: 85-87 (4) Fiore VIII: 1-11 Images Copyright © 1983 Editorali D’Ami, Review Copyright © 2000 Mark Filipas