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* [[The World|Eternity]] | * [[The World|Eternity]] | ||
The poem is structured in six allegorical triumphs. The triumphs are concatenated, so that the Triumph of Love (over Mankind and even gods) is itself triumphed over by another allegorical force, the Triumph of Chastity. In its turn, Chastity is triumphed over by Death; Death is overcome by Fame; Fame is conquered by Time; and even Time is ultimately overcome by Eternity, the triumph of God over all such worldly concerns. | The poem is structured in six allegorical triumphs. The triumphs are concatenated, so that the Triumph of Love (over Mankind and even gods) is itself triumphed over by another allegorical force, the Triumph of Chastity. In its turn, Chastity is triumphed over by Death; Death is overcome by Fame; Fame is conquered by Time; and even Time is ultimately overcome by Eternity, the triumph of [[Yahweh|God]] over all such worldly concerns. | ||
==Original triumphs== | ==Original triumphs== | ||
[[File:Death Triumph.jpg|300px|thumb|Triumph of Death]] | [[File:Death Triumph.jpg|300px|thumb|Triumph of Death]] | ||
===Love=== | ===Love=== | ||
One spring day in Valchiusa, the poet falls asleep and dreams that Love, personified as a naked and winged young man armed with a bow, passes by on a fiery triumphal chariot drawn by four white horses. Love is attended by a multitude of his conquests, including illustrious historical, literary, mythological, and biblical figures, as well as ancient and medieval poets and troubadours. Eventually the procession reaches Cyprus, the island where Venus was born. | One spring day in Valchiusa, the poet falls asleep and dreams that Love, personified as a naked and winged young man armed with a bow, passes by on a fiery triumphal chariot drawn by four white horses. Love is attended by a multitude of his conquests, including illustrious historical, literary, mythological, and [[Bible|biblical]] figures, as well as ancient and medieval poets and troubadours. Eventually the procession reaches Cyprus, the island where Venus was born. | ||
Although only Love is described in the text as riding on a car or chariot, it became normal for illustrators to give them to all the main figures. | Although only Love is described in the text as riding on a car or chariot, it became normal for illustrators to give them to all the main figures. | ||
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===Death=== | ===Death=== | ||
[[File:Reknown Triumph.jpg|300px|thumb|Triumph of Fame]] | [[File:Reknown Triumph.jpg|300px|thumb|Triumph of Fame]] | ||
Returning from the battle, the victorious host encounters a furious woman dressed in black, who reveals a countryside littered with the corpses of once proud people from all times and places, including emperors and popes. This personification of Death plucks a golden hair from Laura's head. Laura dies an idealised death, but returns from heaven to comfort the poet, who asks when they will be reunited in one of the most significant passages of the poem. She replies that he will survive her a long time. | Returning from the battle, the victorious host encounters a furious woman dressed in black, who reveals a countryside littered with the corpses of once proud people from all times and places, including emperors and popes. This personification of Death plucks a golden hair from Laura's head. Laura dies an idealised death, but returns from [[heaven]] to comfort the poet, who asks when they will be reunited in one of the most significant passages of the poem. She replies that he will survive her a long time. | ||
This later became [[Death]] card in the [[tarot]]. | This later became [[Death]] card in the [[tarot]]. | ||
===Fame=== | ===Fame=== | ||
Death departs and after Death comes Fame. Her appearance is compared to the dawn. She is attended by Scipio and Caesar, and many other figures from Rome's military history, as well as Hannibal, Alexander, Saladin, King Arthur, heroes from Homer's epics, and patriarchs from the [[Bible|Hebrew scriptures]]. Accompanying these soldiers and generals are the thinkers and orators of Classical Greece and Rome. It has been remarked that for Petrarch, Plato is a greater philosopher than Aristotle, who was preferred by Dante. | Death departs and after Death comes Fame. Her appearance is compared to the dawn. She is attended by Scipio and Caesar, and many other figures from Rome's military history, as well as Hannibal, Alexander, Saladin, King Arthur, heroes from Homer's epics, and patriarchs from the [[Bible|Hebrew scriptures]]. Accompanying these soldiers and generals are the thinkers and orators of Classical Greece and Rome. It has been remarked that for Petrarch, Plato is a greater philosopher than Aristotle, who was preferred by [[Dante Alighieri]]. | ||
This later became [[The Chariot]] card in the [[tarot]]. | This later became [[The Chariot]] card in the [[tarot]]. | ||
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===Eternity=== | ===Eternity=== | ||
Petrarch finds consolation in the almighty [[Yahweh|God]] and the prospect of being reunited with Laura in heaven and timeless eternity. Eternity is not represented allegorically. | Petrarch finds consolation in the almighty [[Yahweh|God]] and the prospect of being reunited with Laura in [[heaven]] and timeless eternity. Eternity is not represented allegorically. | ||
This later became [[The World]] card in the [[tarot]]. | This later became [[The World]] card in the [[tarot]]. | ||
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The first [[Visconti-Sforza Tarot]] was commissioned by the duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, painted by Michelino da Besozzo and described in an accompanying text by Martiano da Tortona. The deck itself is lost, but Marcello provided a copy of da Tortona's description which offers details about the deck and a cursory explanation of how it is played. | The first [[Visconti-Sforza Tarot]] was commissioned by the duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, painted by Michelino da Besozzo and described in an accompanying text by Martiano da Tortona. The deck itself is lost, but Marcello provided a copy of da Tortona's description which offers details about the deck and a cursory explanation of how it is played. | ||
It likely had a total of 60 cards (four kings, forty pip cards and sixteen trumps). The forty-four plain-suited cards used birds as suit signs and the trumps presented sixteen Roman or Greek gods: Jove | It likely had a total of 60 cards (four kings, forty pip cards and sixteen trumps). The forty-four plain-suited cards used birds as suit signs and the trumps presented sixteen Roman or Greek gods: | ||
* Jove | |||
* Juno | |||
* Pallas | |||
* [[Venus]] | |||
* Apollo | |||
* [[Neptune]] | |||
* Diana | |||
* Bacchus | |||
* [[Mercury]] | |||
* [[Mars]] | |||
* Vesta the Virgin | |||
* Ceres | |||
* Hercules | |||
* Aeolus | |||
* Daphne | |||
* Cupid | |||
In two suits, the pip cards are in reverse order as in many of the oldest card games. Each trump card is associated with a suit in alternating descending order of Eagle, Phoenix, Turtledove, Dove. For example, Jove, Apollo, Mercury, and Hercules are associated with the suit of Eagles. | In two suits, the pip cards are in reverse order as in many of the oldest card games. Each trump card is associated with a suit in alternating descending order of Eagle, Phoenix, Turtledove, Dove. For example, Jove, Apollo, Mercury, and Hercules are associated with the suit of Eagles. | ||
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The first attestation of a deck with 78 cards was in a poem by Matteo Maria Boiardo of Ferrara written between 1461–1494. The deck was structured like modern tarots, but the motifs and suits signs of the Boiardo deck are totally different. He used classical figures for the face cards and trumps. Pier Antonio Viti of Urbino (c. 1470-1500), brother of Timoteo Viti, provided a commentary of Boiardo's poem as well as rules. He likely commissioned the production of these decks of which two incomplete packs have survived. Both the rules and the deck were likely conscious departures from common trionfi decks. | The first attestation of a deck with 78 cards was in a poem by Matteo Maria Boiardo of Ferrara written between 1461–1494. The deck was structured like modern tarots, but the motifs and suits signs of the Boiardo deck are totally different. He used classical figures for the face cards and trumps. Pier Antonio Viti of Urbino (c. 1470-1500), brother of Timoteo Viti, provided a commentary of Boiardo's poem as well as rules. He likely commissioned the production of these decks of which two incomplete packs have survived. Both the rules and the deck were likely conscious departures from common trionfi decks. | ||
The order of the trumps varied by region, perhaps as early as the 1440s. | The order of the trumps varied by region, perhaps as early as the 1440s. | ||
In Bologna and Florence, the highest trump is the [[Angel]], followed by [[the World]]. This group spread mainly southward through the Papal States, the Kingdom of Naples, and finally down to the Kingdom of Sicily but was also known in the Savoyard states. | |||
In Ferrara, the World was the highest, followed by [[Justice]] and the Angel. This group spread mainly to the northeast to Venice and Trento where it was only a passing fad. By the end of the 16th century, this order became extinct. | |||
==Shift to tarot== | ==Shift to tarot== | ||
The earliest known appearance of the word "[[tarot|Tarocho]]" as the new name for the game is in Brescia around 1502. | The earliest known appearance of the word "[[tarot|Tarocho]]" as the new name for the game is in the town of Brescia in northern Italy around 1502. | ||
"Tarochi" was used in June 1505 in Ferrara. In December 1505, "Taraux" decks are mentioned as being produced in the papal enclave of Avignon in France. Around this time, the word Trionfi seems to modify its character in a playing card context; it appears as a game of its own and seems no longer connected to the specific allegorical cards. This is most likely due to the popularity of Trionfa which usurped the old name. The word taroch was used as a synonym for foolishness in the same period. | "Tarochi" was used in June 1505 in Ferrara. In December 1505, "Taraux" decks are mentioned as being produced in the papal enclave of Avignon in France. Around this time, the word "Trionfi" seems to modify its character in a playing card context; it appears as a game of its own and seems no longer connected to the specific allegorical cards. This is most likely due to the popularity of Trionfa which usurped the old name. The word ''taroch'' was used as a synonym for foolishness in the same period. | ||