The Tarot of Valentina Visconti

Tarot of Valentina Visconti
Maria Teresa Perosino and Sergio Panza, 1982

This deck is the artistic collaboration of Maria Teresa Perosino and Sergio Panza. It was published in 1982 by Edizione del Solleone as a limited, numbered edition of 1000, with the edition number stamped on the bottom of the slipcased package. The line illustrations are printed in dark brown ink on a very nice cream-colored stock which is unlaminated. These illustrations are very beautiful; the scans below are nice, but really don’t convey the clean linework on the actual cards.

The full name of this deck is I Tarocchi di Valentina Visconti per il Palio d’Asti, or The Tarot of Valentina Visconti at the Palio of Asti. It commemorates Valentina’s diversion at the Palio of Asti, Italy, which she visited in 1389 during her bridal journey from Milan to France. The Palio was an annual festival held in honor of the town’s independence from its long-standing rival, Alba, in 1275. The victory celebrations included a horse race around the city’s walls.

Valentina was daughter to Giangalleazzo Visconti, the first duke of Milan. Giangalleazzo was himself married to the daughter of the King of France, a major alliance for the Visconti family. In January 1387, the beautiful Valentina was betrothed to Louis, brother to the French King (King Charles VI). The enormous dowry, which consisted of 450.000 florins and the town of Asti, took Giangalleazzo over two years to consolidate.

Valentina’s brother was Filippo Maria Visconti, who may have commissioned the extant deck we now call the Visconti Tarot. When she left her father’s castle for France, Valentina brought many gifts which included “a game of Saracen cards, some Lombardy cards.” It is unknown whether this was a Tarocchi pack.

I really like the illustrations in this deck. The drawings are detailed, even though there is no shading of any kind. All the figures are apparently dressed in the costumes of the late fourteenth century. There does seem to be a celebration going on because everyone seem to be having a good time – even The Hanged Man. The Magician recalls the older Tarocchi images of a merchant or vendor. All the cards look like scenes from a Renaissance fair.

The Tarot of Valentina Visconti is unique for its addition of ten cards to the traditional 78-card pack. Five of these cards represent prizes which were given to the winners of the Palio horse races. These prizes were Palio (banner), Speroni (spurs), Monere (coins), Gallo (cock), Acciuga (anchovies). The remaining five cards represent attributes required to win in these races: Conoscenza (Knowledge), Coraggio (Courage), Intrigo (Intrigue), Astuzia (Astuteness), and Liberta (Liberty). These ten illustrations are among my favorites in the deck, and four of these cards are shown above.

The minor arcana show patterned arrangements of suit symbols, with scenery behind these elements which make them quite ornate. In the case of the suit of Cups, the same pathway is seen behind all the arrangements but it is redrawn for each individual card so that a hand-made quality is maintained. The suit of Staves uses branches which all have budding leaves, and these are shown with flames in a variety of designs. The Swords are placed over a backdrop of the ocean. The Coins are inscribed with several different designs and are seen against money bags of different sizes, similar to the Palio card of Money, shown above.

There is a small fold-out booklet included with the deck, which is written entirely in Italian. It appears to be a history of Valentina’s visit to Asti, and includes some background to the ten Palio cards. There are no meanings given for any of the cards in the deck. I was fortunate to find this copy on eBay, where I have seen it on rare occasions. It is a very attractive deck worth keeping a look-out for.

Review by Mark Filipas, 7/21/00