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− | [[Image:lighterstill.jpg]] | + | [[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:Jean_Dodal_Tarot_trump_09.jpg|frame|''Le Bateleur'', "The Mountebank," the first trump in the Tarot de Marseille.]] |
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| The '''Tarot of Marseilles''' (or '''Tarot of Marseille'''), also widely known by the French designation '''''Tarot de Marseille''''', is one of the standard patterns for the design of [[tarot]] cards. It is a pattern from which many subsequent tarot decks derive. | | The '''Tarot of Marseilles''' (or '''Tarot of Marseille'''), also widely known by the French designation '''''Tarot de Marseille''''', is one of the standard patterns for the design of [[tarot]] cards. It is a pattern from which many subsequent tarot decks derive. |
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| ==Origins of the Tarot== | | ==Origins of the Tarot== |
| [[Michael Dummett]]'s research led him to conclude that - based on the lack of earlier documentary evidence - the Tarot deck was probably invented in northern [[Italy]] in the fifteenth century. Other scholars who disagree with that theory point to a medieval origin of the game. For the moment, it is ascertained that tarot cards were introduced into southern France from northern Italy when the French conquered [[Milan]] and the [[Piedmont]] in 1499. The antecedents of the Tarot de Marseille would then have been introduced into southern France at around that time. The [[tarot (game)|game of tarot]] died out in Italy but survived in France and [[Switzerland]]. When the game was reintroduced into northern Italy, the Marseille designs of the cards were also reintroduced to that region. | | [[Michael Dummett]]'s research led him to conclude that - based on the lack of earlier documentary evidence - the Tarot deck was probably invented in northern [[Italy]] in the fifteenth century. Other scholars who disagree with that theory point to a medieval origin of the game. For the moment, it is ascertained that tarot cards were introduced into southern France from northern Italy when the French conquered [[Milan]] and the [[Piedmont]] in 1499. The antecedents of the Tarot de Marseille would then have been introduced into southern France at around that time. The [[tarot (game)|game of tarot]] died out in Italy but survived in France and [[Switzerland]]. When the game was reintroduced into northern Italy, the Marseille designs of the cards were also reintroduced to that region. |
− | [[Image:Jean_Dodal_Tarot_trump_09.jpg|frame|''Le Bateleur'', "The Mountebank," the first trump in the Tarot de Marseille.]]
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| ==Tarot de Marseille== | | ==Tarot de Marseille== |
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| In the Tarot de Marseille, as is standard among Italian suited playing cards, the [[pip card]]s in the [[suit of swords]] are drawn as abstract symbols in curved lines, forming a shape reminiscent of a [[mandorla]]. On the even numbered cards, the abstract curved lines are all that is present. On the odd numbered cards, a single fully rendered sword is rendered inside the abstract designs. The [[suit of wands]] is drawn as straight objects that cross to form a [[lattice]] in the higher numbers; on odd numbered wands cards, a single vertical wand runs through the middle of the lattice. On the tens of both swords and batons, two fully rendered objects appear imposed on the abstract designs.<ref>Sedillot, below, pl. 1-4.</ref> The straight lined wands and the curved swords continue the tradition of [[Mamluk]] playing cards, in which the swords represented [[scimitar]]s and the wands [[polo mallet]]s.<ref>Huson</ref> | | In the Tarot de Marseille, as is standard among Italian suited playing cards, the [[pip card]]s in the [[suit of swords]] are drawn as abstract symbols in curved lines, forming a shape reminiscent of a [[mandorla]]. On the even numbered cards, the abstract curved lines are all that is present. On the odd numbered cards, a single fully rendered sword is rendered inside the abstract designs. The [[suit of wands]] is drawn as straight objects that cross to form a [[lattice]] in the higher numbers; on odd numbered wands cards, a single vertical wand runs through the middle of the lattice. On the tens of both swords and batons, two fully rendered objects appear imposed on the abstract designs.<ref>Sedillot, below, pl. 1-4.</ref> The straight lined wands and the curved swords continue the tradition of [[Mamluk]] playing cards, in which the swords represented [[scimitar]]s and the wands [[polo mallet]]s.<ref>Huson</ref> |
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− | [[Image:Carte bergamasche.jpg|thumb|Traditional North Italian playing cards, like the Tarot of Marseilles, distinguish batons from swords by the use of curved versus straight lines.]]
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| In this abstraction, the Tarot, and the Italian playing card tradition, diverges from that of [[Spanish playing card]]s, in which swords and batons are drawn as distinct objects. [[Suit of cups|Cups]] and [[suit of pentacles|coins]] are drawn as distinct objects. Most decks fill up blank areas of the cards with floral decorations. The [[two of cups]] typically contains a floral [[caduceus]]-like symbol terminating in two [[heraldry|heraldic]] [[dolphin]] heads. The [[two of pentacles|two of coins]] usually joins the two coins by a ribbon motif; the ribbon is a conventional place for the manufacturer to include his name and the date.<ref>Sedillot, op. cit., plates 1-2.</ref> | | In this abstraction, the Tarot, and the Italian playing card tradition, diverges from that of [[Spanish playing card]]s, in which swords and batons are drawn as distinct objects. [[Suit of cups|Cups]] and [[suit of pentacles|coins]] are drawn as distinct objects. Most decks fill up blank areas of the cards with floral decorations. The [[two of cups]] typically contains a floral [[caduceus]]-like symbol terminating in two [[heraldry|heraldic]] [[dolphin]] heads. The [[two of pentacles|two of coins]] usually joins the two coins by a ribbon motif; the ribbon is a conventional place for the manufacturer to include his name and the date.<ref>Sedillot, op. cit., plates 1-2.</ref> |
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− | There are also the standard twenty-two [[trump]] cards. At times, the Fool, which is unnumbered in the Tarot de Marseille, is viewed as separate and additional to the other twenty-one numbered trumps. Occultists (and many tarotists nowadays) call these twenty-two cards the ''Atouts'' ([[Trump (card game)|Trumps]]), ''Les Lames Majeures de Figures'' (The Major Figure Cards) or ''Arcanes Majeures'' ([[major arcana]]) in French. | + | There are also the standard twenty-two [[trump]] cards. At times, the Fool, which is unnumbered in the Tarot de Marseille, is viewed as separate and additional to the other twenty-one numbered trumps. Occultists (and many tarotists nowadays) call these twenty-two cards the ''Atouts'' ([[Trump (card game)|Trumps]]), ''Les Lames Majeures de Figures'' (The Major Figure Cards) or ''Arcanes Majeures'' (major arcana) in French. |
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