Le carte della Fortuna

Those who are familiar with other packs by Sergio Ruffolo (1916-1989) such as “Lo Zodiaco” and the “Tarocco Indovino” will immediately recognise his style here. That modern style is characterised by sharp lines and contrasting two or more shades of one colour within the same person’s outfit. There are humorous touches in many of the designs. The card value is displayed once only in the top right-hand corner, while the card number (1 to 56) is shown bottom left or bottom right. The card titles and meanings are given in Italian both upright and reversed (and sometimes down the right-hand side). There are four consultant cards – a young woman, a young man, an elderly woman and an elderly man. The artist’s signature appears somewhere on every card. See the box►

Above: Le carte della Fortuna designed by Sergio Ruffolo. Published by Il Nuovo Torcoliere for Miralanza, Italy, 1975. Printer unknown. 52 cards + 4 “consultant” cards + 32-page booklet in Italian, in tuck box. Size: 62 x 94 mm. Copyright Miralanza 1975.

Miralanza (or Mira Lanza) was an Italian company which produced soaps and detergents. See the booklet►

There is in fact an error in this pack: the suits and card numbers are in ranking order except for the 5, 6 and 7 of Clubs which are numbered 33, 32, 31 instead of 31, 32, 33. It could equally be that the wrong card values were attached to these particular designs.

Reference

Jensen, K. Frank. The Prophetic Cards. Roskilde, Denmark: Ouroboros; 1985. Ref. 2.29.