Hanging Man - Tarot card
12, Hanged Man
Other names: Hanging Man, Lo impichato (hanging man), L'impiccato, Traditore (traitor), Pendu (hanged man), Le Pendu, Le Pendut, Lependu, La prudence (prudence), l'Appeso
Oldest appearances:
- Pierpont-Morgan-Bergamo
- Rosenwald
- Bibliotheque Paris
- group printed sheets
- Cary-Sheet (fragment)
- Catelin Geofroy
- Lombardy I (?)
In the earliest miniatures, the figure on the twelfth card shows a man hung by one foot from a wooden crossbeam. In the Tarots of Charles VI (figure 1) the man holds a bag in each hand, from which coins spill out, whereas in the Trionfi of the Visconti (figure 2) his hands are tied behind his back. We find both aspects respectively in the “minchiate” and in so-called classical tarots, with a variant in the case of the “minchiate”. In the cards of Charles VI, the free leg is bent and waves in the air, according to a posture that we find for this type of punishment in different depictions of hell (figure 3 - Giuseppe Salerno, The Last Judgment, 1629, detail of Hell, Dome of Gangi, Palermo. Photo realized by Angela Bisesi) while in the “minchiate” it takes on the iconography of the Visconti Tarots, with one leg bent behind the other so as to draw a cross.
In the Sermones de ludo cum aliis, our man is called “lo imphicato” (the hanged man) a term which we find, with a syntactical variant, in Folengo and Garzoni who call him the “Appicato” or the “Impiccato”.
In other 16th century documents, we find him called the “traitor”. In fact, many documents and accounts tell us that this was the penalty for treason. There is a rather obvious reference to the figure of Judas, who is explicitly mentioned in certain texts. In the Gioco de tarochi fatto in Conclavi (Tarots played in the Conclaves), the pack of cards is mixed by cardinal Farnese who distributes a card to each of the cardinals attending. The “Judas” card falls to the cardinal of Pisa, considered a traitor. A similar term already appeared with the Tarots, to be exact, in the Visconti cards of the Yale University Library. The Hope card, apparently unusual in a pack of tarots (see below), is represented by a kneeling woman in the act of praying. Her hands grasp two ropes, one tied to an anchor, the other around the neck of an old man lying on the ground, whose white dress bears the words “Juda traditor” (Judas the traitor).
The manuscript diary of Iacopo Rainieri, which tells us about the events which took place in Bologna between 1535 and 1549, has this to say about the penalty for traitors: “Adi 21 detto fu atachati su li cantoni de la piaza uno foglio de carta nel quale li era depinto Cesaro di Dulcini e Vicenzo de Fardin ditto il Vignola li quali erano apichati per uno piedo per tradittori de la patria li quali avevano portato în la città di Trento il mestiero del fillatoglio de lavorare la seda et aveano taglia drieto che li amazava guadagnava ducati 100 e chi li deva vivi ducati 200. Notta che il ditto Cesaro Dolsino feva l'arte dela seda et Vicenzo feva l'arte del ligname zioe faceva li filatogli” (On the 21st, a sheet of paper was put up on the corners of the square, with a drawing of Cesaro di Dulcini and of Vicenzo De Fardin, known as il Vignola. They were shown strung up by a foot, as traitors to their home, since they had brought the art of silk spinning to Trento, and a price of 100 ducats had been put on their head for killing them, and 200 for capturing them alive. It was mentioned that Cesaro Dolsino worked with silk, while Vicenzo was a carpenter who made the spinning frames) (c. 40 recto - March 12, 1532)
In this document, the two traitors are “strung up by a foot” because they had taught how to spin silk in another town, thus promoting what could well become a dangerous competition to the business of their town.
Muzio Sforza Attendolo seems to have been sentenced to the same torment by Antipope John XXIII who in 1412 denounced him as a traitor for his alliance with the enemy, the king of Naples Ladislao. In his Annali d’Italia (Annals of Italy), Muratori wrote that the Pope felt so offended that he had him painted hanged by the right foot, under a sign in which he was found guilty of twelve betrayals. We receive more detailed information from the chronicles of the time: “On the order of our Pope, he was painted on all the bridges and on all the doors of Rome, suspended by the right foot from the gallows as a traitor of the Holy Mother Church, and Sforza Attendolo held a hoe in his right hand and in his left hand an inscription that said : I am Sforza peasant of Cotignola, traitor, that betrayed the church 12 times breaking my honour, promises, chapters and pacts”. This case is important for the number of things he was blamed for, corresponding with the Traitor of tarot cards. Whoever initiated this action knew that people would immediately connect that number to something known, so we must ask whether the XII as well as indicating the twelfth apostle, Judas, also reflected the image of the Hanged Man already present in the tarot cards. If this were the case, immediate recognition would have been much easier.
In Sigismondo Fanti’s Triompho di Fortuna (Triumph of Fortune) we find another significant example. The question XLVII is an attempt to answer “Quel cha l’huomo, o alla donna per li loro ma pensieri averra” (What will happen to a man, or a woman, because of their evil thoughts), and is illustrated by three figures: the first shows a convict climbing the steps of a gallows, the second a man hung by one foot, while the third shows what is left of a man condemned to such a penalty. A head, an arm and a leg are hanging from the rope. Fanti thus explains the question: “Nella presente domanda, l’Auttore tratta di coloro che sono oppressi da molti e scelerati pensieri, e spetialmente di quelli che pensano operarli contra de loro maggiori, notificando, che ogni tristo lor disegno andera fallato, e che da cieli sarano ridotti a pessimo e disperato fine. Onde il Fanti essorta tutti i potentati a doversi da questi tali per ogni modo guardare” (In this question, the Author deals with those who are oppressed by many evil thoughts, and especially those who think of using them against their superiors, and warns them that every wilful design of theirs will fail, and that they will be brought to a bad and desperate end. Therefore Fanti warns all powerful men to beware of such people in every way).
At the card LXII v. of the responses, the Sybilla of Cuma has this to say in the quatrain XVI, illustrated by the same figure of a man hung by one foot: “Se inhumano serai, o traditore / A Signori, o parenti in fatto o in detto / Senza cagion privo d'ogni rispetto / Te veggio in aer terminar tue ore” (If you be inhuman, or traitor / to Lords, or relatives who are such in fact or in word / if you be without any respect, for no reason / I see you finish your days in the air) (figure 4).
We too have found a figure identical to the one on the Tarot of Charles VI and on the Marseilles Tarot. This figure can be seen in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna in the fresco depicting Hell, in the Bolognini Chapel, painted by Giovanni from Modena in 1410. In his will, Bartolomeo Bolognini invited his successor to make the image of Hell “Orribilis quantum plus potest” (as horrible as possible), and the intended result was certainly achieved. At the centre, a gigantic gastrocephalous devil – painted according to the iconography current at the time - sits on his throne. Amidst sharp, cutting and massive rocky shards, the damned are shown as they undergo punishment, with their faults written on small flags, on the stones and above the line of the horizon. On this tar-coloured horizon, the only form of vegetable life are skeleton-like trunks and branches, on which the damned are pierced or hanged. Among these, two men are strung from a foot to the branches of the same tree. We see one from the front, the other from the back. Their heads are above other damned, two groups of three people steeped in water up to their chests, who are looking at the hanging figures above them (figure 5). The caption identifying their sin starts on the left of the hanging figure whose back we see, and ends on the right of the second hanging figure: “ido/latria” (ido/latry). Between the heads of these idolaters, above the people steeped in the water, are the words “ninusrex”. The reference is to the ultimate idolater, King Ninus, the founder of Nineveh, the town where idolatrous rites were performed more than anywhere else. When painting this fresco, in order to invent and describe certain punishments, Giovanni da Modena certainly drew inspiration from previous models. The “Maestro Bolognese” of the Brussels initials, when depicting Hell in the Book of Hours of Charles the Noble, and in the Book of Hours currently in the Bodleian Library of Oxford, seems to have referred to the same models too. The Maestro in fact shows a similar scene: a hanged man above a cistern, which contains several people, including King Ninus with a crown on his head. The scene refers to the Biblical description of the destruction of Nineveh by God (Nahum 2,9): “But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away”.
Giovanni da Modena did not explicitly represent King Ninus, and he used the stones as a natural cistern in which to place the idolaters. The term idolatry comes from the Greek eidôlatres, made up of eidôl-on = image and latrês = servant.
The imagery is based on a law of retaliation: idolaters, who worship images of false gods, are forced to observe the image of their own fault through eternity, represented by the condition of the penalty. The two hanged men had to be represented, one from the back and the other from the front, so the vision of their fault, and hence of the suffering caused by the punishment, could be complete.
Idolatry is the ultimate expression of treason, and the most ignoble, since it repudiates the very creator. Answering question LXIII of his Triomphi, takes into account “Se`l fin dell huomo sara buono” (whether the purpose of man is good), and has this to say: “L’Auttore in questo luogo dimostra che Iddio, rispetto alla sua infinita altezza e somma deita, non hauer potuto crear l’huomo in altra forma, che a l’imagine e similitudine sua. Benche `l Fanti dice, che gli huomini si potrebbero oggi ragionevolmente metter nel numero de gli animali bruti, perche non riconoscono il ricevuto beneficio Ma pagano i loro debiti d'una somma ingratitudine...” (The Author in this place shows that God, because of his infinite height and supreme godliness, could not have created man in any other form, except in his own image and likeness. Yet, Fanti says, men today could reasonably be accounted among the brutes, since they fail to recognise the benefit they have received. Put they pay the debt of a supreme ungratefulness…”).
It is interesting to note the figures which illustrate this question: once again, we find a man walking up the steps of a gallows, and the parts of the body left hanging on the rope. The figure of the man hanged by one foot, that is of the traitor, is replaced by a man kneeling in prayer. There is a clear link here to the Hope card in the Visconti tarots of the Yale University Library: it is only through prayer and devotion to the true God that one can avoid the penalty due to traitors.
A further testimony, definitive for what concerns being hanged by a foot as punishment inflicted to the traitors, it is found in a majolica dish that I have found in the Ceramic Collection of the Museum of the Malatestian Museum in Fano (figure 6).
The plate, fragmented and partly incomplete, has a wide setting decorated with a flowered branch achieved in monochrome blue. At regular intervals, between the sinewy spirals there are small flowers with a central button in orange. At the centre of the plate, stands the figure of a hanging man, his foot held by a rope and a scroll with an inscription that runs along the top of the cable. The few remaining legible words on the scroll are “TRADITURE NO TE C [...]” (TRAITOR NON TO YOU C […]).
While the concept hanged man=traitor and its iconography is now consolidated, the Fano plate is not only further proof as expressed here, but the inscription that identifies the crime of which he is guilty makes this the only existing example of profane art where the guilt=torture is explicitly defined. And, if the figure of this traitor in the Bolognini Chapel, refers to the iconographic Tarot of Marseilles, with the leg folded to form a perfect cross, the shape of the legs in the Hanged Man plate of Fano is exactly the same as that in the paper Tarot Visconti Sforza (fifteenth century).
Man’s sin is represented iconographically in the image of a fall. First Lucifer, followed by all his host. “Man turned upside down, that is man who has lost his standing position, has lost everything which symbolises an upward thrust, a thrust towards the sky, towards the spiritual, he no longer rises up the axis mundi towards the celestial pole and towards God; on the contrary, he plunges into the animal world and the dark netherworld” (G. de Champeaux - S. Stercks, Simboli del Medioevo - Symbols of Middle Age, Milan, 1981)
Esotericism exploited the iconographic conformation of the figure, the cross formed by the two legs and the upside down position, in order to satisfy its doctrinal speculations. Actually, the position of the free leg being bent was a natural one for anybody in those conditions, and the victim would inevitably tend to rest one leg against the other in order to soothe the pain created by the unbalanced position of the body.
Being hanged, by one or by two feet, an in any case upside down, also became an allegorical representation of negative situations which caused pain and moral suffering. We can see an example in an Italian ceramic plate of 1510 which represents an allegory of love. From the branches of an dried tree, a woman has been hung by per feet, “per non avere fede sopposta” (for not having had faith in her lover) (figure 7).
Extract WWPCM, special Tarot motifs with related deck
Visconti Tarocchi
Deck * I Tarocchi dei Visconti Sforza - Italy, Dal Negro (reprint of original from after 1450)
Deck * I Tarocchi dei Visconti - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (remake of 1995)
Deck * Italy Tarot - Ukraine, unknown (2003) (no small arcana, additional great arcana)
Incomplete Visconti Tarocchi
Deck * Pierpont Morgan, Visconti Sforza - Switzerland, AGM (1975, reprint of ca. 1450)
Tarot de Marseille
Deck * VSS, Germany (2001, reprint of 1930/1748)
Deck * Grimaud, Tarot of Marseilles - France (1963, reprint of 1761 of Nicolas Convert)
Deck * Fournier, Tarot of Marseilles - Spain (1984, reprint of 18th century)
Deck * Tarot de Marseille, reprint AGMüller, Switzerland (1870)
Deck * Fournier, Le Tarot de Marseille - France (1992)
Incomplete versions of Tarot de Marseille
Deck * 1743, by Jean Payen, Tarot de Marseille / 1760 complete version of Nicolaus Conver, reprint of 1860
Deck * G.Drago, Tarot of Marseilles - Italy (ca. 1790)
Deck * Gorizia, Tarot of Marseilles (18th c.)
Deck * Berti, Tarot of Marseilles (18th c.)
Deck * Tarot of Marseilles - Italy, unknown (ca. 1830)
Deck * Gassmann, Tarot of Marseilles - Switzerland (1840 - 1860)
Tarot Besancon
Deck * 1920, probably older woodblocks from J.Jerger, "Renault", Tarot de Besancon
Incomplete versions of Tarot Besancon
Deck * 1748, reprint from ca. 1889 by "Grimaud" France, called "Ancient Tarot de Marseille" edition by Arnoult
Deck * Besancon Tarot, ca 1760, Goebl (Bavaria)
Tarocco Piemontese
Deck * Fabbrica di Vergnano, Tarocco Piedmontese, Italy ca. 1850
Deck * 1884, A. Viassione (Torino, Italy) Tarocco Piemontese
Deck * Dal Negro (Italy), Tarocchi Piemontese
Tarot Belgique
Deck * Tarot Flamand - Swiss, AGM (reprint from 1780, Vandenboerre deck)
Deck * 1831/1974, reproduction AGMüller (Suisse), Tarot
Deck * ca. 1870 "J.Gaudais" (Paris, France), deck "Tarot", (!!!) with Juno + Jupiter - pair
Egypt Tarot and variations
Deck * AGMuller, Switzerland) for USGS, USA, "Egipcios Kier Tarot"
Deck * Ibis Tarot (Egypt Tarot) - Russia, by Josef Machynka (modern)
Deck * Union Chernobil, "Egypt Tarot", Russia 2006
Rider-Waite-Smith and variations
Deck * Novosibirsk, Tarot of A.Waite - Russsia (1909/2001)
Deck * Universal Waite Tarot, AGMüller, Switzerland
Deck * The Golden Rider Tarot, AGMüller, Switzerland
Deck * De tarot in de Herstelde Orde - Holland, Servire (1995)(changed numbers)
Deck * since 2002, "Carta Mundi" (Belgium), publisher "Lo Scarabeo" (Italy), deck "Universal Tarot"
Deck * Tarot of the New Vision - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (2003)
Older decks with traditional number-row:
Deck * I Tarocchini - Italy, Dal Negro (reprint of 1665 Mitelli-deck)
Deck * Classical Tarot - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (2000, engravings from 1835)
Deck * Papus Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1989, original from 1889, small arcana from 1981)
Deck * Tarot of the Master (2002), remake of a deck of 1893, Lo Scarabeo
Deck * Cartomanzia Italiana, Solleone, Italy (19th/1983)
Deck * 1910 - 1912, Guglielmo Murari, deck "I Tarocchi"
Deck * 1922, Fratelli Armanino (Rome), Tarocchi
Deck * Crowley Tarot, AGMüller, Switzerland (1938-1944 / 1978)
Deck * Fournier, Spanish Tarot - Spain(1992)
Incomplete older decks with traditional number row
Deck * Tarot de Paris, 17th century, unknown reprint
Deck * Gumppenberg, Historical Tarock, Italy (1812)
Deck * ca. 1870, "Grimaud" (France) deck "Tarot"
Deck * 1885, Edoardo Dotti, Milan, Dellarocca Tarot
Deck * Venezian Tarock - Italy, Modiano (1964)
New Periode decks:
Deck * Aquarian Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1970)
Deck * Morgan-Greer Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1999 ?, first published 1979)
Deck * Hermetic Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1980)
Deck * I Tarocchi di Enzo Viviani, 1980/81, limited edition (no small arcana)
Deck * Hanson-Roberts Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1984)
Deck * Tarot Cat People - USA, USGS (since 1985)
Deck * Deva Tarot - Austria, Piatnik (1986)
Deck * Eclectic Tarot - Austria, Piatnik (1986)
Deck * Barbara Walker Tarot, 1986
Deck * Arcus Arcanum Tarot - Switzerland, AGMüller (1986)
Deck * Capital - I Tarocchi del Manager, artist Giorgio Ghidoli, 1986
Deck * Mythic Tarot, 1986 (1997 Chinese edition)
Deck * Mithological Tarot, KSP+, Russia (1986/1999)
Deck * Herbal Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1988)
Deck * 1988/1998 "Llewellyn Publications" (USA), deck "Gypsy Fortune Telling Tarot"
Deck * Gypsy Tarot, Russia 2005, reprint "Gypsy Fortune Telling Tarot" (1988/98)
Deck * Ansata Tarot - Switzerland, AGMuller (ca. 1988 ?) (no small Arcana)
Deck * Tarot of the Ages - Swiss, AGM (1988)
Deck * Art Nouveaux Tarot, Carta Mundi, Belgium (1989)
Deck * Enchanted Tarot - USA, St.M.Press (1990)
Deck * Haindl Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1990)
Deck * Tarot of the Origins, Lo Scarabeo, Italy (1991/2000)
Deck * Tarot of the Imagination, Lo Scarabeo, Italy (1991, 2000)(small Arcana incomplete)
Deck Lo Scarabeo, Tarocchi dei Celti, Italy 1991
Deck * Tarot of the Gold Dawn, Fair-Press, Russia (1991, 2001)
Deck * Tarot, Unisam, Russia (1992) (no small arcana)
Deck * Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg - Swiss, AGM (1992)
Deck * Egorov Tarot - Austria, Piatnik (1992)
Deck * Tarot of lovers, KSP+, Russia (1992/2000)
Deck * Tarot-93 - Russia, Mozaisk (1993)
Deck * Medieval Scapini Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1994)
Deck * Tarot of Ceremonial Magick - USA, USGS (since 1994)
Deck * Piatnik, Tarot, Austria (1995)
Deck * I Tarocchi Dell'Alba Dorata (Tarots of the Golden Dawn) - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (1995)
Deck * Tarot of the Gnomes - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (1995)
Deck * Illuminating Ancient Tarots - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (1995, based on Sola Busca from 1491)
Deck * Hudes Tarot, 1995, USA
Deck * 1995, "Carta Mundi" (Belgium) for "USGS" (USA), deck "Unicorn Tarot", Artist Liz Hilton
Deck * 1996, "AGMuller" (Switzerland), for "USGS" (USA), deck No.12.468 "Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals"
Deck * Rock Art Tarot, 1996
Deck * Old English Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1996)
Deck * Kalevala Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1996)
Deck * Kazanlar Tarot, AGMüller, Switzerland (1996)
Deck * Cosmic Tarot, AGMüller, Switzerland (1997)
Deck * RenaissanceTarot - Swiss, AGM (1997)
Deck * Diamond Tarot - Switzerland, AGMuller (1997)
Deck * "USGS" (USA), printed in China, deck "The Zerner&Farber Tarot", 1997
Deck * "Lo Scarabeo" (Italy), deck "The Fairy Tarots", 1998, publisher "Fair-press" (Russia), designed by Antonio Lupatelli
Deck * Tarot: Oracle of the Tsar Solomon - Lithuania, Calendar (1998) (additional great arcana)
Deck * Tarot of the Sephiroth Swiss, AGM (1998)
Deck * The Renaissance Tarot - USA, Fireside (1998)
Deck * Art Nouveau Tarot - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (1998)
Deck * The Goddess Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1998)
Deck * Tavaglione Tarot (Stairs of Gold Tarot) - Russia (1998 ?)
Deck * The Secret Tarots, Lo Scarabeo, Italy (1998)
Deck * Shapeshifter / Tarot of Transformations, Nirwana, Russia (1998/2001)
Deck * Baphomet, Tarot of the Underworld, Urania, Switzerland (1999) (no small arcana)
Deck * Fantastical Tarot - Swiss, AGM (1999)
Deck * The Celtic Dragon Tarot - USA, Llewellyn (1999)
Deck * Nefertari's Tarots - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (1999)
Deck * Workman Publishing, "Baseball Tarot", USA 1999
Deck * Transcendential Tarot "Key of Hermes", Russia, A.Zaraev (1999)
Deck * Tarot of Spiritual Evolution "Key of Hermes" Russia, A.Zaraev (1999)
Deck * One World Tarot, 1999
Deck * Votre Tarot, France 2000
Deck * Celtic Tarot - Belgium, Carta Mundi (2000)
Deck * Magic Tarot - Russia, KSP+ (2000)
Deck * Vedic Tarot - Russia, KSP+ (2000)
Deck * The Cosmic Tribe Tarot - Russia, KSP+
Deck * Ppus Tarot - Ukraine, Siromjatnikoff (2000)
Deck * Duerer Tarot - TarotClub(2000) (no small arcana)
Deck * Tarot of Casanova - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (2000)
Deck * The Crystal Tarot - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (2000)
Deck * The Vampire Tarot - USA, USGS (since 2000)
Deck * Animal Tarot - USA, Paula Gibby (ca. 2000)
Deck * The Blue Rose Tarot - USA, Paula Gibby (ca. 2000)
Deck * Union Chernobil, Cards of Tarot - Russia (2001)
Deck * Mirror of fate - Russia, unknown (2001)
Deck * Gregori Tarot, Russia, unknown (2001)
Deck * Secret Tarot - Belgium, Carta Mundi (2001)
Deck * Tarot of Third Millenium (Röhrig Tarot) - Russia, Tarot Academy (2001)
Deck * 2000, "Carta Mundi" (Belgium), for "USGS" (USA), deck "Whimsical Tarot", Artist Mary Hanson-Roberts
Deck * Tarot of the Sphinx, 2001, Lo Scarabeo
Deck * Decameron Tarot - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (2002)
Deck * Etruscan Tarot - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (2002)
Deck * Zinatne, "Latvian Tarot", Latvia 2002
Deck * Tarot of Nostradamus's dreams - Russia, Starcklight (2002)
Deck * Gold Tarot of doctor Paracelsus - Russia, KSP+ (2002)
Deck * Tarot of ancient wisdom (Old Path) - Russia (2002)
Deck * Universal Tarot (Connolly Tarot)- Russia, unknown (2002)
Deck * Tarot of Fortune - Russia, CPP (2002)
Deck * Round tarot of Woman Authority (Mother Peace 2) - Russia, North Scoop (2002)
Deck * Tarot Major Arcana - Russia (2002) (no small arcana)
Deck * Olympus Tarot, Lo Scarabeo, Italy (2002)
Deck * The Golden Tarot of the Tsar, Lo Scarabeo, Italy (2002)
Deck * Tarot of the Journey to the Orient (Marco Polo), 2002, Lo Scarabeo
Deck * Celtic Tarot, Russia 2003
Deck * Rocambol Tarot, Russia 2003
Deck * New Century Tarot, 2003, USA
Deck * Leonardo da Vinci Tarot, 2003 (Lo Scarabeo)
Deck * Cabbalistic Tarot G.O.M. - Switzerland, Aenigma (2003)
Deck * Manara Tarot - Russia, Avvalon (2003)
Deck * Osho Zen Tarot - Russia, unknown (2003)
Deck * Casanova Tarot - Ukraine, unknown (2003) (no small arcana, additional great arcana)
Deck * Russian Love Tarot - Ukraine, unknown (2003) (no small arcana, additional great arcana)
Deck * India Tarot - Ukraine, unknown (2003) (no small arcana, additional great arcana)
Deck * Tarot of Prague - Czech, A.Ukolov (ca. 2003)
Deck * Love Tarot 2 - Ukraine, unknown, (2003) (no small arcana, additional great arcana)
Deck * Tarot of Mermaids - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (2003)
Deck * The Matrix reloaded - Ukraine, unknown, (2003)
Deck * Magic Tarot, unknown (2003) (no small arcana, additional great arcana)
Deck * 2003, unknown (Ukraine), Tarot
Deck * 2004, unknown (Russia), Tarot
Deck * 2004, "Lo Scarabeo" (Italy), deck "Dragons Tarot", designed by Manfredi Toraldo & Severino Baraldi
Deck * 2004, "Lo Scarabeo" (Italy), deck "Tarot of Druids", designed by Bepi Vigna, Severino Baraldi, Antonio Lupatelli
Deck * 2004, "Lo Scarabeo" (Italy), deck "Fey Tarot", Artist Mara Aghem
Deck * Arkaim, Apollo Tarot, Russia 2004
Deck * Arkaim, Shakespeare Tarot, Russia 2004
Deck * Arkaim, Tales Tarot, by V. Trosinenko, Russia 2004
Deck * Arkaim, Bible Tarot by M. Parhetova, Russia 2004
Deck * Labyrinth Tarot, Spain 2005, by Luis Royo
Deck * 'Book World', Da Vinci Tarot, Russia 2006, reprint of "The Da Vinci Enigma Tarot", 2005
Deck * 2005 "Avvallon " (Russia) deck "Tarot of the 78 doors", reprint of "Lo Scarabeo" (Italy) edition designed by Pietro Alligo & Antonella Platano
Deck * Tarot Love, 2005, Russia
Deck * Union Chernobil, Silver Age Tarot, Russia 2006
Deck * Roberto Meiattini, Tarocco erotico dei giardini di priapo, designed by Amerigo Folchi
Deck * The Tarot of Durer - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (modern)
Deck * Russian Tarot - Russia, unknown (Victor Bakhtin ?)(modern)
Deck * Tarot of Magic Raven - Russia, unknown (modern)
Deck * Palladini Tarot - unknown (modern)
Deck * Mysterious Tarot of Egypt - Russia, Novosibirsk (modern)
Deck * Holy Tarot of Tot, Russia, Sofia (modern)
Deck * CPP, Tarot - Russia (modern)
Deck * Tarot of Aquarius's era - Russia, CPP (modern)
Deck * The New Orleans VooDoo Tarot - USA, Destiny Books (modern)
Deck * I Tarocchi - Italy, unknown (production time unknown) (no small arcana)
Deck * Tarot Floral (modern), Lo Scarabeo
Animal Tarot, complete
Deck * ca. 1790 Claude Rochais Animal Tarock
Deck * Daveluy, Animal Tarot - Belgium (19th/20th c. ?)
Deck * Animal Tarot, Geuens Seaux, Belgium
Deck * Adler Cego Tarot - Germany, ASS (1976), since 1931 (?)
Animal Tarot, incomplete
Deck * A. Göbl, Bavarian Animal Tarot - Germany (1750)
Deck * ca. 1780, Guilleaume Mann, Colmar (Germany), Bavarian Animal Tarot
Deck * 1790, J. M. Backofen, Bavarian Animal Tarot
Deck * 1795, J. de Porre (Belgium), Animal Tarot
Deck * J.G.Backofen, Animal Tarock, Germany (1800)
Deck * ca. 1800, unknown, (Luebeck, Germany), Baltic Tarot
Deck * Industrie-Comptoir, Animal Tarot - Germany (1810)
Deck * ca. 1815, Jacob Wokaun (Czechia), Upper Austrian animal Tarot
Deck * Sewera, Animal Tarock - Czechia (1849)
Deck * Uffenheimer - Animal Tarock (1837)
Deck * C.T.Sutor, Animal Tarock (19th c. ?)
Deck * CPP, Tarock with Animals - Russia (1920)
Military Tarot, complete
Deck * Piatnik, Soldaten Tarock - Austria (1918)
Military Tarot, incomplete
Deck * ca. 1785, Martin Boehme (?), Dresden Germany, Military Tarot
Deck * F.Eurich, Tarock - Austria (1816)
Deck * Glanz, Franz Josef, Military Tarock - Austria (1854)
Deck * Glanz, Franz Josef, Military Tarock - Austria (1858)
Deck * Glanz, Franz Josef Military Tarock - Austria (1865 or 63)
Deck * Glanz, Franz Josef, Military Tarock - Austria (1885)
Tarock with buildings, complete
Deck * Franz Xaver Milchram, Grazer Tarock, Austria 1825, reprinted by Piatnik 1995
Deck * Pittner, Graz Tarock - Austria (1870)
Deck * Piatnik, Tarot - Austria (1974, reprint of 19th)
Deck * S.Salomon&Co, Holmblads Spillekort Forretning - Denmark (ca. 1910)
Deck * Frommann&Morian, Ansichtentarock, Germany 1929
Incomplete Tarock with buildings
Deck * "J.G.Uffenheimer" Tarock (?), Germany c.1830
Deck * "J.G.Uffenheimer" Tarock, Austria (?) c.1830
Other decks (mainly Tarock for playing) - usually trumps and courts
Deck * Mythology Tarock, 1820, Hungary
Deck * Industrie-Comptoir, Tarock, Germany 1839
Deck * Piatnik, Industrie und Gluck Tarock - Austria (since 1843)
Deck * "Il Meneghello", deck "Tarocco Maria Stuarda", Italy 2004, reprint of c.1845 edition of "Fabrica Dotti" (Milan)
Deck * Glanz, Constitution Tarock - Austria (1848)
Deck * Piatnik, Habsburger Tarock, Austria 1850, reprinted 1993
Deck * Dondorf, Microscopic Tarock - Germany (1858-1933)
Deck * Piatnik, Can-Can Tarock, Austria, since c.1860
Deck * C.L.Wuest, Tarot - Germany (since 1890)
Deck * Catel, Jeu de Tarot - France (19th/20th ?)
Deck * Grimaud standard deck - France (groups of persons)(19th/20th ?)
Deck * Vannak, Szerencse Fel Tarock - Hungary (1901)
Deck * Joseph Glanz, Tarock No.1 - Austria (1906)
Deck * Modiano, Alan-Tarock - Italy (since 1910)
Deck * Alan Tarot - Italy, Modiano (since 1981, reprint of 1910)
Deck * Erste Slowenische Spielkartenfabrik, Tarock (1912)
Deck * Franz Adametz, Industrie und Gluck Tarock, Austria since 1930
Deck * Tarot des Regions de France - France, Grimaud (1986)
Deck * Fournier, Nuevo Juego del Tarot - Spain (1977)
Deck * 1991, Kolin (Czechia), Taroky
Deck * Jeu de Tarot, France, Heron (20th c. ?)
Deck * Tarocco, Modiano, Italy
Deck * French Tarock, ASS
Incomplete other decks (mainly Tarock for playing)
Deck * Sachsentarock, ca. 1778, Breitkopf - Leipziger Kartenfabrik
Deck * A.Goebl Tarock, Germany c.1780
Deck * 1800 J.D. Backofen, Tarock ?
Deck * 18th P.F. Ulrich, Tarock
Deck * J.C.DuPort, Tarock - Poland (18th c.)
Deck * C.F.Pfeiffer, Tarock - Germany (18th/19th c. ?)
Deck * Napoleon Tarock - France, unknown (1808)
Deck * Turkey - Germany. unknown (1810)
Deck * Estel, Chinese Tarock - Austria (1820)
Deck * Joseph Estel, Tarot - Austria (1823)
Deck * Mythology Tarock, 1825, Frankfurt
Deck * Bechstein - Tarock, Germany (1835)
Deck * Emil Hirschfeld, Tarot - Austria (1844)
Deck * "?" Austria "Chinese Tarock", c.1850
Deck * Kobitsch, Tarock - Germany (1855)
Deck * Piatnik, Hunter Tarock, Austria (1856)
Deck * Dondorf, Cego Tarot -Germany (since 1858)
Deck * C.Titze&Schinkay, Tarot (since 1859)
Deck * Joseph Glanz, Tarot - Austria (1865)
Deck * F.Pittner, Tarock - Austria (1865)
Deck * Piatnik, Fools Tarock, Austria (1865 or 55)
Deck * ca. 1890 "Grimaud" (France), deck "Classical Deities Tarot",
Deck * LeQuart, Classical Deities Tarock - France (1890)
Deck * Ceska Grafika, Tarock - Czechia (ca. 1890)
Deck * ca. 1890, "Willeb" (Paris, France), deck "Tarot"
Deck * Tarock - Austria, unknown (19th c. ?)
Deck * Dondorf, Tarot - Germany (19th c.)
Deck * H.F.Mueller, Tarot - Austria (19th/20th c.)
Deck * Grimaud, Tarot Francais des Fleurs - France (1902)
Deck * ASS, Proverbs Tarock - Germany (1920)
Deck * August Denk, Tarock - Austria (1925)
Deck * VSS, Tarock, Germany (1925)
Deck * Bielefelder Cego - Germany (1954)
Deck * Tarot Comedians Francaise, Heron, Dusserre, France
Tarocco Siciliano, changed row and motifs, 64 cards
- a special treasure, as till now there is not too much to the Tarocco Siciliano in the web. There is an article connected to the decks.
Deck * 19th century "Lorenzo di Lorenzo" (Italy), deck "Tarocco Siciliano"
Deck * 19th century "La Fortuna" (Italy) deck "Tarocco Siciliano"
Deck * since 1966, "Modiano" (Italy), deck "Tarocco Siciliano"
Deck * 18th century "Tuzzolino" (Italy), deck "Tarocco Siciliano"
Deck * 1930 - 1975 "Concetta Campione" (Catania, Italy) deck "Tarocco Siciliano"
Minchiate, changed row and motifs, 97 cards
Deck * Il Meneghello, "Minchiate Fiorentine", Italy 1986, reprint of design c. 1820 and first print after 1862
Deck * Al Leone, "Minchiate Fiorentine", (Bologna, Italy) c.1790, reprint by Edizioni del Prado/Ediciones del Prado, Madrid, Spain, 2004
Deck * "Carte di Etruria" (Italy), c.1725, reprint by "LoScarabeo" (Italy) as "Antiche Minchiate Etruria", 1996
Incomplete Minchiate
Deck * unknown, Firenze, Italy, "Florence Minchiate", c.1700 (?)
Etteilla Tarot, altered row
Deck * Esoteric Ancient Tarot - Italy, Lo Scarabeo (1997, based on Etteilla deck from 1870)
Deck * Grimaud, "Grand Etteilla", France, edition of 1910
Deck * "Rei Mundy" (Belgium) for Russia deck "Grand Etteilla", 2006 designed by V.Zaichenko
Incomplete Etteilla deck
Deck * end of 18th century, "Bezu" ? (France), "Grand Etteilla"
Deck * Egyptian Tarot, France - unknown(1845)
Deck * Delarue, Le Grand Jeu de l'Oracle des Dames, France 1870, together with a complete reprint of 2003 by Lo Scarabeo, "The Book of Toth"
Tarot cards
Tarot card Fool
Tarot card Magician
Tarot card Popess
Tarot card Empress
Tarot card Emperor
Tarot card Pope
Tarot card Love
Tarot card Chariot
Tarot card Justice
Tarot card Hermit
Tarot card Wheel of Fortune
Tarot card Strength
Tarot card Hanging Man
Tarot card Death
Tarot card Temperance
Tarot card Devil
Tarot card Tower
Tarot card Star
Tarot card Moon
Tarot card Sun
Tarot card Judgment
Tarot card World
Author's site
Tarot history
Tarot and Playing Cards Museum
Tarot Iconography
Fortune Telling
Iconography of Mantegna Tarocchi
Tarot card iconography of Andrea Vitali