XV Century Italian Playing Cards

Published July 03, 1996 Updated June 27, 2023

Cards from a pack of an early form of north Italian playing cards, with the swords back-to-back and curved outwards. Believed to be Venetian, dated 1462.

1462 Italy History Tarot Archaic Patterns
Early form of north Italian playing cards, with the swords back-to-back and curved outwards

Above: eighteen cards from a pack of an early form of north Italian playing cards, printed from woodblocks, with the swords back-to-back and curved outwards. Believed to be Venetian, late 15th century. The inscription on the two of batons, whilst at first glance resembling “ano 62”, may in fact be an inscription reading “duos” as the numeral cards in the batons suit have inscriptions giving their values written in what appears to be Venetian dialect. Kings seated on thrones is a format found in other early Italian cards, as well as early Swiss and German cards.

By the 15th century there was interchange of Italian and Spanish suited cards across the Alps.

Museo "Fournier" de Naipes de Alava
  Arabako "Fournier" Karta Museoa

Images on this page of cards from the Museo "Fournier" de Naipes de Alava (Diputación Foral de Alava, Cuchillería 54, 01001 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain) are taken from Suarez Alba (1991) and used with permission.


Early form of north Italian playing cards, with the swords back-to-back and curved outwards

Above: reconstruction from several 16th or late 15th century north Italian fragments of partially coloured uncut sheets of cards. The swords and batons suit symbols are curved outwards in the same way as seen in early Spanish-Portuguese cards. The arrangement of the suit symbols and accompanying decorations are also reminiscent of the Mamluk Playing Cards from the Topkapu Museum in Istanbul. The original cards are located in Szépművészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts), Budapest.

Below: more examples of the same style of cards, printed from woodblocks, are shown below which in these cases are very early tarot packs.

Early form of north Italian tarot cards Early form of north Italian tarot cards

REFERENCES

Private correspondence from Michael Dummett to Dalu Jones, 1973.

avatar
1,475 Articles

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

Founder 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.

Related Articles

1897 Tarot hiéroglyphique égyptien

Tarot hiéroglyphique égyptien

The design of the cards draws inspiration from various religious and philosophical traditions merged...

1981 Alan Tarot Deck

Alan Tarot Deck

Reprint of a Tarock pack originally designed by Argio Orell for the Austrian Lloyd shipping company....

1975 Tarot Baraja Egipcia

Tarot Baraja Egipcia

Curious Tarot with Egyptian-style trumps issued by Franco Mora Ruiz from Mexico.

2021 Le Tarot de Sète

Le Tarot de Sète

Reinterpretation of the Tarot de Marseille by Julien Labat, an artist from Sète.

1990 Tarot Philatélique

Tarot Philatélique

Tarot game pack with French postage stamps on all the courts, aces and trumps.

1991 Il Tarocco del Mondo Nuovo

Il Tarocco del Mondo Nuovo

Imaginative Tarot card designs by Amerigo Folchi relating to Columbus and the New World.

1992 22 Artisti Liguri in 22 Arcani

22 Artisti Liguri in 22 Arcani

Collaborative set of major arcana devoted to Christopher Columbus and his voyages of discovery.

1992 Carte di Colombo

Carte di Colombo

Fully illustrated pack designed by Pier Canosa commemorating the 500th anniversary of the discovery ...

1975 The Tarot of Meditation – Yeager Tarot

The Tarot of Meditation – Yeager Tarot

Marty Yeager’s original Tarot of Meditation from 1975, republished later by U.S. Games Systems, Inc....

1987 Engel-Tarot

Engel-Tarot

Set of major arcana designed by Alois Hanslian depicting angels throughout.

1983 Carte di Natale

Carte di Natale

Designed by Pier Canosa as a Christmas pack for the Cortina Art Gallery in Milan.

Trappola cards from Poland

Trappola cards from Poland

Trappola cards published in Warsaw by J G Du Port during the 18th century.

1984 Tarot Actuel 1984

Tarot Actuel 1984

Major arcana to cut out, issued with the French magazine Actuel, using photographic images.

Lyon pattern made in Italy by Pietro de Santi

Lyon pattern made in Italy by Pietro de Santi

The Lyon pattern was initially developed in France during the 16th century. As Lyon was a trading hu...

1975 Mountain Dream Tarot

Mountain Dream Tarot

Groundbreaking Tarot created by Bea Nettles, using photographs and photo montage.

Laurenzo Propagine

Laurenzo Propagine

Spanish-suited cards made in Italy by Laurenzo Propagine.