The Origins of Playing Cards

The Renaissance

With the onset of the Renaissance in Italy, the new spirit of Humanism was spreading through Europe bringing a change of form and direction. This did not reach certain parts of Europe until the high and late Renaissance in the 16th century. Artists were commissioned to paint anything from wall frescoes through Books of Hours to illuminated playing cards, thereby exhibiting the taste and cultivation of the patron. In some cases the imagery had a moral, Christian, instructional or philosophical content, whilst in other cases it was based upon popular culture, or else merely conventional or adorned with the owner's heraldic devices.

Left: Visconti tarocchi playing card, Milan, Italy, c.1445. Click here to see more.

Links to Mantegna Tarocchi - Peter Flötner - Guildhall Library Tarot cards

Download article about Origins of Imagery in the Tarot.

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