Tarocco Piemontese | Piedmontese tarot

TAROCCO PIEMONTESI double-ended version

Although it originally was a single-figured, or full-length design, the double ended version of the Piedmontese Tarot shown on this page evolved during the second half of the nineteenth century, most probably in Turin. It is still produced and used today. The usual format is with Italian inscriptions (instead of French) and Arabic numerals on the trumps. The manufacturer's details can be read on the ace of coins. In the top row this reads: “Viassone Alessandro, Torino, Fabbrica Via Nizza 104, Deposito Via Arsenale 4” and there are two duty stamps, one dated “13 Gen 85”.

Above: Tarocchi Piemontese manufactured by Viassone, Turin, 1885 & c.1920.

Above: Tarocchi Piemontesi manufactured by Armanino, Rome, c.1965. The Ace of Cups is a chalice containing flowers.

Above: Tarocchi Piemontesi manufactured by Modiano. Image courtesy Rex Pitts.

The 78-card Italian ‘Piedmontese’ Tarot has survived where other styles have become extinct and is used outside Italy.

Above: Naipes Tarok (Tarocco Piemontese) by Cappellano S.A., Bs Aires, c.1970. 78 + 2 cards. Further examples of Tarocco Piemontese manufactured in Argentina are shown here→

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

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Curator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.