Luigi Del Pieve Minchiate

Among the quieter corners of Florentine print history, few names have been as elusive as Luigi Del Pieve. Until recently, only scattered references hinted that he had worked as a card maker in the early nineteenth century. That changed when four hand coloured Minchiate cards surfaced in my collection, all printed with Del Pieve’s name and the motto Alli Sorte.

These cards were produced in Florence circa 1805 to 1808, printed from woodblocks on handmade laid paper and coloured through stencils in warm ochres, vermilion or cinnabar reds, and verdigris greens. The group consists of The Chariot numbered X, Capricorn numbered XXVII, the Queen of Batons, and Aquarius numbered XXXII. Each bears the vertical printer’s legend DEL PIEVE on the face, while the backs show a dotted border design with a Mercury or Hermes like figure holding a caduceus above the words Alli Sorte, meaning by chance or to luck. The Minchiate zodiac series places Aquarius at number thirty two, which suits the present identifications.

In Florence there is a notable concentration of distinctive back designs and fiscal markings during the years of French administration. By the middle of the eighteen tens such motto backs largely decline as fiscal controls and evolving production methods reshape the trade. The Alli Sorte device sits within this tradition. Its Mercury figure evokes dexterity in play and commerce while also serving as a workshop signature. Parallel eighteenth century Minchiate in the British Museum confirm the standard Tuscan techniques of woodcut outline and stencil colour on laid stock.

The cards can be dated just before the appearance in Florence of the Francia fiscal stamp, which is seen on many Florentine packs during Napoleonic rule from about 1808 to about 1814. A well documented Del Pieve group within that window shows Francia and DelPieve ink stamps on trumps and courts together with the so called Poverino back that depicts a trumpeter on horseback within a dotted border. That same documented group records turn over edges where the back paper wraps to the face and gives card dimensions close to ninety eight by fifty eight millimetres. Set against that Francia era profile, the present quartet without Francia stamps appears to represent an earlier and independent Del Pieve production.

The Francia stamp belongs to the broader European practice of taxing playing cards and marking packs. For readers new to these marks and how they aid dating, the International Playing Card Society provides a clear primer that explains why such imprints are evidentiary.

Florentine packs frequently exhibit turn over edges in which the back paper is wrapped onto the face to form a narrow border. When present, turn over edges reinforce an artisanal finish. If absent, that can indicate a different finishing workflow while remaining consistent with hand production within the same workshop tradition. The Francia era Del Pieve example cited above makes this finish explicit.

Luigi Del Pieve and his workshop can be sketched from scattered notices tied to the Napoleonic and Restoration years. Del Pieve is recorded as producing playing cards in Florence in 1807 and 1808 in association with Giuseppe Busi. An unnamed Del Pieve is listed as making playing cards including Minchiate between about 1814 and 1819. By 1817 Gaetano Del Pieve is registered as working alone, and in 1827 he partners with Cosimo Adami, the collaboration continuing until about 1830. These points suggest a family atelier that bridged the Francia period, handing down blocks, skills, and customers from Luigi’s activity to Gaetano’s stewardship.

Surviving Francia era examples attributed to Del Pieve show the workshop’s materials and finish at close range. They are hand coloured woodcuts on laid stock, the trumps and courts carry ink stamps reading Francia and DelPieve, the backs bear the Poverino trumpeter within a dotted frame, the edges are finished with back paper turned over onto the face, and typical cards measure close to ninety eight by fifty eight millimetres. These traits align with Tuscan practice and provide a technical yardstick for comparing earlier or unstamped work such as the present Alli Sorte group.

To my knowledge, no other published example has been recorded with this exact Alli Sorte back that combines the DEL PIEVE face legend with a Mercury figure and motto on the reverse. While motto backs are known on earlier Italian Minchiate such as the British Museum alla Fortuna pack, the wording and iconography here appear distinct. In this light the quartet offers direct evidence that Minchiate was still being made entirely by hand in Florence on the eve of the Napoleonic fiscal regime, even as newer techniques such as lithography were beginning to spread elsewhere in Europe.

Above: four hand-coloured Minchiate cards by Luigi Del Pieve, Florence c. 1805 - 1808. Woodcut on laid paper with stencil colour, backs printed “Alli Sorte” showing Mercury with caduceus.

References

Berti & Gonard, Le Minchiate Fiorentine, Lo Scarabeo, 1994. Del Pieve (Francia Edition) partial deck, Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Sale 2103, Lot 67 (2018).

Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Lot 487, Italian playing cards, Minchiate pack, Florence, Del Pieve, circa 1808 to 1814. Records Francia and Del Pieve ink stamps on trumps and courts, the Poverino trumpeter back within a dotted border, turn over edges, and approximate card size of ninety eight by fifty eight millimetres. Demonstrates the Francia stamped Del Pieve corpus during the Napoleonic years and describes physical characteristics that serve as a benchmark for comparison.

Kaplan, S. R. Encyclopedia of Tarot, Vol. II (1986), pp. 290 - 296.

Tarot History Forum: Minchiate overview and ordering. Notes the extended Minchiate series and supports identification of Aquarius as number thirty two among the zodiac trumps. Serves as a specialist discussion point on numbering used by collectors and historians.

Trionfi dot com: Tuscany playing card production 1815 to 1861. Notes that Cosimo Adami begins in January 1827 together with Gaetano Del Pieve and continues alone from 1831. Supports the family workshop narrative and the Adami partnership in the later period.

British Museum - more early Michiate packs can be viewed online for comparison:

1. British Museum, object number 1896,0501.39. Complete Minchiate with backs printed with Medici arms and the legend alla Fortuna, catalogued to the eighteenth century. Demonstrates that printed motto backs are securely present in the eighteenth century and provides a close comparator for a legend back on an Italian Minchiate pack.
2. British Museum, object numbers 1876,0510,1009 to 1073. Minchiate group catalogued circa 1675 with Medici arms and the word Fortuna on the reverse. Demonstrates the existence of legend backs in Florence in the late seventeenth century and establishes the longevity of the motto back tradition.
3. British Museum, object number 1896-0501-36. Incomplete Minchiate made up from several packs with printed backs and described as hand coloured woodcut on laid pasteboard, catalogued to the eighteenth century. Corroborates continued use of printed backs and hand coloured woodcut technique in Italian Minchiate.

Two later cards

This example does not have turned over edges.

Above: 2 Minchiate cards, c.1820.