About the Deck
The Visconti Modrone, also known as the Cary Yale Visconti, is one of the earliest extant tarot decks. It was originally made for the Visconti family in the 15th century. There are three partially extant decks, commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti and his son in law, Francesco Sforza, both Dukes of Milan. Some scholars believe the Modrone to be the earliest of the three, commissioned around 1442. There are written records of earlier tarot decks, but no cards from earlier decks are known to survive. This possibly makes the extant Visconti Modrone tarot cards the earliest surviving examples.
The structure of the Visconti Modrone is different to that of other tarot decks, and could indicate that it was created before the specific cards that make up the tarot had been standardised. Only sixty-seven cards survive from the deck, and there are several theories about how many cards were originally created. The eleven surviving trump cards include the virtues Faith, Hope and Charity, which are missing from other tarot decks but included in minchiate decks. It’s possible that there were fewer major arcana cards than are found in later, standard decks, or that these cards were created in addition to the twenty-two we’re familiar with. As well as the usual male knights, there are mounted ladies, and there are female pages or valets in addition to their male counterparts.
The original deck is attributed to the artist Bonifacio Bembo and is entirely handmade and hand painted, with gilded majors and silver minors. This deck was most likely commissioned for a special occasion, possibly for the wedding of Filippo’s daughter Bianca Visconti and Francesco Sforza. The extra female court cards suggest that it was a deck intended for a woman, possibly Bianca herself.
Lo Scarabeo recreated this deck for a Kickstarter campaign which I backed. Their intention was to make the deck as if it were designed to be made using modern printing methods rather than being handmade. Rather than reproducing the cards as they look today, they were digitally remastered, so to speak, and “missing” cards were added to bring the deck up to a total of eighty-nine cards, consisting of the usual twenty-two trumps, the three additional virtues, and a full set of minors including the extra female courts. It’s unlikely that the original deck had the same cards as this remake, but it’s nice that a full set of standard cards is present.
The digital retouching and the specially designed replacement or additional cards are well done, the deck feels cohesive and the cards look as though they were intended to look this way. The gilded edges are a nice touch, although not a feature of the extant originals. My only gripe is with the super glossy, shiny finish. The original cards have shiny gold and silver surrounding non-shiny painted figures and motifs, whereas these cards are so shiny all over that the gold and silver doesn’t stand out from the other colours.
The deck also comes with extras, an informative book, a reading cloth, a coin and a wax seal. To fit all these in, it is packaged in a sturdy but very large box. Large boxes are not my cup of tea, as they don’t fit well in my tarot shelves. I usually remove extra large boxes so the deck takes up less space, but in this case I prefer to keep the extras with the deck so the box stays.
Favourite Cards
Death is often one of my favourite cards and this death is no exception. I like his skeletal appearance and his black scythe. He rides are pretty normal looking horse, emphasising his gaunt body. He looks ahead, not at the group of figures below him that his blade is about to cut through.
The Ace of Cups is a particularly fancy card, the extravagant cup is covered in gold flourishes and extra decorative details.
I enjoy the suit of coins in this deck, as each coin is decorated with a different motif, such as the snake and wreath on the Two of Coins.
Finally, I chose the Mounted Lady of Swords, one of the additional female court cards. I like how the soft green of her dress contrasts with the vibrant green grass, and although she’s sitting side saddle and looking very ladylike, she’s holding the reins and her sword giving her a sense of control and power.
Final Thoughts
Despite the super glossy finish on the cards which I don’t really like, I’m super happy to have this deck in my collection. The extra cards bringing the deck up to a complete usable tarot deck with extras is great, it means I’m much more likely to use it than if it were simply a reproduction of the extant cards. I love the extra female courts, and I’m glad that the three virtues were treated as extra cards rather than replacements for other majors.
I enjoy seeing the deck as it might have been if it were designed in the twenty-first century rather than the fifteenth, and it’s interesting to think about how it might have been different had modern printing techniques been available back then. I would have prefered for the gold and silver parts of the cards to be shiny and the rest matt, but I appreciate that that’s not in line with the goal of this recreation.
