Oliver Mundy tarot

Published April 29, 2014 Updated April 24, 2022

Original Tarot designs in Italian Renaissance style by Oliver Mundy.

United Kingdom Oliver Mundy Renaissance Tarot Tarocchi

Original Tarot designs in Italian Renaissance style by Oliver Mundy

Original tarot designs in Italian Renaissance style by Oliver Mundy

Above: original tarot designs in Italian Renaissance style by Oliver Mundy. The cards were drawn with a mapping-pen and tinted in water-colour. All artwork and notes © Oliver Mundy.

NOTES

Atout VI: The Lovers A young man is torn between two ladies, one dressed all in leaves and the other in flowers. Latin inscription, Florem inter foliumque mico; Cytherea rependit /Qua tenear cedens et qua desiderer absens (‘I flutter between the Flower and the Leaf. On the one side I shall yield and be held, on the other I shall be lost and regretted. Venus is the judge.’) The debate between the Flower and the Leaf – in other words, between Beauty and Functionality – was a popular trope in mediaeval times, mentioned by Chaucer among others.

Atout XI: Strength Greek inscription, Ariston to heautou kratein (‘The best command is command of oneself.’) Caption, La Fortexia (modern Italian Fortezza) (‘Strength’).

Atout XII: The Hanged Man Judas Iscariot, traditionally shown with red hair, hangs on a tree; the money-bag, the price of his treachery, lies below, where worms are gathering. Latin inscription, Praeda capessendo perdis spiramina, Judas; / Stulte, an tantillos animâ mutaveris asses? (‘Judas, you have lost the breath of life through your lust for booty. Fool! did you give your soul for so small a price?’) Caption, Ladpenso (mod. Italian L’Appenso) (‘The Hanged Man’).

Ace of Cups A novice knight dedicates himself and his sword before the Holy Grail, which is inscribed Hic est sanguis meus (‘This is my blood’) and stands on an altar-cloth inscribed NON NISI PURUS ADIBIS (‘You shall not approach unless [you are] pure.’) The musical quotation above is from Wagner’s Grail opera, Parsifal.

Atout XIV: Temperance – shown robed in white and pouring water into a bowl. Greek inscription (from the archaic Greek poet Hesiod), Pleon hemisu pantos (‘Half is [worth] more than the whole’).

Atout XVIII: The Moon The goddess Artemis is seen in her three aspects: as the spirit of the Moon, as a huntress, and as overseer of the phantoms of the nether world. Latin inscription, Infernis tutrix, nostris quoque gloria silvis, / Caelivolansque vices ponti versura perennes (‘[She is] the Lady of the Underworld, an ornament to our [earthly] forests, and destined as she journeys the heavens to guide the endless ebb and flow of the ocean.’).

Atout XXI: The World Fortune, as a naked woman, stands on a globe inscribed Tamquam vas figuli (‘Like a potter’s vessel’ – a biblical expression of fragility). Crowds of souls, bursting from the womb of a monstrous figure, struggle upwards and grasp at gold ornaments that she pours from a cornucopia; but they miss their aim and tumble down into the gaping mouth of Hell. Latin inscription, En, ardor male pertinax habendi, / Ut Ditis prope devia arva ventum est, / Librat denique, ne per alta surgas (‘Behold, when you come to the tortuous halls of Hades, the wickedly persistent urge for property becomes a burden at last, so that you cannot rise to heaven.’)

Queen of Coins/Pentacles Archaic Italian inscription, Regina di Denarii ‘Queen of Deniers, or Pennies’).

Eight of Swords – interlaced, in accordance with early examples.

Four of Coins/Pentacles Latin inscription, Inicit insipiens supremum iactibus assem, / ‘Hoc agat’ exclamans ‘ne bona cuncta fluant’ (‘The fool cries “May this preserve all my goods from loss” and throws his last farthing on the table’)*.

* This was suggested by a remark attributed to the eighteenth-century Irish Member of Parliament Sir Boyle Roche, renowned for his muddle-headed eloquence: ‘It is the duty of every true lover of his country to give his last guinea to save the remainder of his fortune’.

Ten of Cups, with demonic mask surrounded by leaves.

The Latin inscriptions, in hexameter (or in the case of ‘The World’ hendecasyllabic) verse, were written especially for these designs.

avatar
1,486 Articles

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

I am the founder of The World of Playing Cards (est. 1996), a website dedicated to the history, artistry and cultural significance of playing cards and tarot. Over the years I have researched various areas of the subject, acquired and traded collections and contributed as a committee member of the IPCS and graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal. Having lived in Chile, England, Wales, and now Spain, these experiences have shaped my work and passion for playing cards. Amongst my achievements is producing a limited-edition replica of a 17th-century English pack using woodblocks and stencils—a labour of love. Today, the World of Playing Cards is a global collaborative project, with my son Adam serving as the technical driving force behind its development. His innovative efforts have helped shape the site into the thriving hub it is today. You are warmly invited to become a contributor and share your enthusiasm.

Related Articles

1910 The Molassine Company and its link to Whist and Bridge

The Molassine Company and its link to Whist and Bridge

A savvy marketing strategy blending Victorian decorative design with Edwardian practicality.

1935 Waddington’s faux books

Waddington’s faux books

Waddington’s faux book set containing four packs of playing cards and bridge markers.

1905 Double Dummy Bridge

Double Dummy Bridge

In the early 20th century several firms began to promote whist or bridge as a game for two.

1898 Ogdens Beauties & Military cigarette cards

Ogdens Beauties & Military cigarette cards

Cigarette cards featuring beauties and military uniforms with playing-card insets.

1991 Magyar Tarot

Magyar Tarot

Hungarian fortune-telling cards with surreal and unconventional designs.

1996 Boddingtons Bitter playing cards

Boddingtons Bitter playing cards

Cool-looking courts advertising Boddingtons Bitter, originally brewed in Manchester.

1999 OXO Faces of the Millennium Dinner

OXO Faces of the Millennium Dinner

Twentieth-century personalities promoting a millennium dinner at the Oxo Tower in London.

1991 Kids Fun Box playing cards

Kids Fun Box playing cards

Colourful cards for children with four non-standard suits connected with the natural world.

1980 Tangle Foot Ale

Tangle Foot Ale

Badger Brewery Tangle Foot strong ale advertising pack.

2022 Tarot Beirut

Tarot Beirut

A beautiful Arabic Tarot : a mystical tool for positive guidance and well-being.

1891 Scientific Whist

Scientific Whist

“Scientific Whist” : standard cards with instructions for play on the faces by Chas Goodall & Son, 1...

1985 Agent Provocateur

Agent Provocateur

Branded lingerie collection in a pack of pin-up playing cards.

2021 Nimbus playing cards

Nimbus playing cards

Mike Steer’s weather-themed pack with suits in four colours and backs for cardistry.

2025 Agatha Christie and Playing Cards revisited

Agatha Christie and Playing Cards revisited

Agatha Christie uses card-play as a primary focus of a story, and as a way of creating plots and mot...

2006 The Decadent Deck

The Decadent Deck

Studies in the eroticism of the female body by Inge Clayton.

1893 Historic Shakespeare

Historic Shakespeare

“Historic Shakespeare” playing cards featuring Shakespearean characters by Chas Goodall & Son.