Jost Amman, Book of Trades, 1588

Following in the wake of Italian art, the German Renaissance developed a new form of medieval knightly culture. Imaginative decks of playing cards were produced by Jost Amman, Schäufelein, Schön and Peter Flötner...

Cards from the Book of Trades by the prolific German Renaissance artist Jost Amman (1539-91). Suits are books, printers' pads, wine-pots and drinking cups. Some of the images had already appeared in books published prior to the cards, along with moralising verses beneath each card.

"Indulging their fancy, they [German card-makers] varied the signs according to every capricious notion: unicorns, dogs, rabbits and apes, monkeys and lions, parrots and peacocks, stroll or fly or flutter through the cardboard world. Packs appeared with suits of pinks, of columbines, printers' inkpads, vases, drinking cups, books, combs, fishes, crowns, bellows, frying-pans, shields, alms-houses and knives; some were circular"

The artist's humour is discernible in almost every card, where little groups of figures decorate the numeral cards. Jost Amman's cards influenced several later cardmakers.

Above: cards from “The Book of Trades” by Jost Amman (1588) published by Lo Scarabeo, Torino, Italy 2004. This modern edition contains 2 jokers and six extra information cards.