Visconti (Gold) Tarots
(I Tarocchi dei Visconti)
by Atanas Alexandrov Atanassov
 
Well, right off the bat, I have to say this is the goldest gold deck I've ever seen.  I own quite a few decks which use a gold metallic ink (and in some cases, a silver metallic) and I think I can safely say nothing I've seen shines so brightly as these cards do.  And the use of this bright and shiny gold is lavish, too.  It's on the box, it's on the title card, it's on the Majors, it's on the Courts...... I can see myself!
 
Seriously, the gold foil that these cards are hot stamped with gives them a rich and sumptuous feel which is entirely consistent with the history of the deck itself.  Since the original Visconti cards were hand painted by illustrious painters (I know one popular theory is that the original painter was Bonifacio Bembo, but I'm not sure that's ever been proven) for wealthy families in Italy in the 15th century.  There are two other Visconti Tarot decks in publication at this time, the Pierpont Morgan Tarot Deck and the Cary Yale Visconti Tarot Deck.  Both of those are reproductions of the existing cards in museums and private collections.  Mind you, that is reproductions in their current condition.
 
This Visconti Gold deck is an actual restoration of these cards, imagining them to be returned to their original glory before time and wear took their toll.  Instead of dull backgrounds, the gold is bright and untarnished.  Landscape colors are also vivid and bright, and the entire deck has a fresh, new feeling to it while retaining its period look and feel.  Grandma's got a facelift!
 
Other changes accompany this refurbishing of a classic.  The original Visconti tarot cards were unnumbered and untitled, leaving much guesswork to the actual ordering and use of them.  In this deck, all of the cards are bordered in black (which makes the gold even more bold) and the lefthand border is a good bit wider than the rest, allowing for the titles and numbers to be printed down the side in a discreet manner.  Since the original cards themselves were quite long and somewhat narrower proportionally than today's standard cards, this title border actually ends up helping to balance the narrower image with a standard deck size.  It's a plan that works.
 
In the Major Arcana, every one of the cards has the full foil background.  Really the way the background is made to look is as if the gold is actually an intricate wall paper or paneling, and the rest of the scenery is laid against it.  I don't mean to imply these cards have full scenes on them, but figures are shown against the gold backdrop, and colorful ground scenes at the bottom make the difference between a two-dimensional look and a warmer, deeper one.  Traditional titles and ordering are used here.  Justice is 8 and Strength 11.  Also, the Lover replaces the Lovers.  In the title bar, the titles are given in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish, from left to right, followed by the Roman numeral which corresponds to the card.  Since the title bars run up the side of the card, you have to turn the card sideways to read them.
 
Another interesting thing to note here is that in this deck, the Devil card and the Tower card do not match the rest of the deck exactly.  What I mean by this is, there were no original Devil or Tower cards ever found in any Visconti card collection.  It is entirely possible, and popularly theorized, that they never did exist, that the Visconti families did not commission their paintings, because they would "offend" the gentle women and children of the family.  So when Atanassov wanted to refurbish this deck, he recreated the Devil and the Tower card based on cards from other types of decks from a similar period.  Therefore, these two cards, while having the gold foil backgrounds and title bars, do not technically match the remaining 76 cards in the deck.  You can see these two cards separately here.
 
The Minor Arcana are the usual pip cards as presented in any classic tarot deck.  Arranged groups of the suit items with appropriate flourishes and banners against white backgrounds with a predominance of green colors.  The titles in the borders feature the suit title only, with the numbers in Arabic numerals.  In the Visconti decks, the banners are supposed to say "A Bon Droyt."  Actually in many of the cards in this reproduction, it seems like the pip cards were placed upside down when they were assembled for printing with the new borders on them.  With these pip type cards it becomes virtually impossible to tell when the cards are reversed; however, when you see "A Bon Droyt" upside down in the banners, it's a good cue.
 
The suits are traditionally titled Wands, Swords, Cups and Pentacles.  The Court cards, the real glory of the Minors in this deck, feature the gold foil backgrounds once again, with titles in the border.  Court titles are King, Queen, Knight and Knave, taking its cue from the Pierpont Morgan version of the Viscontis, since the Cary Yale version has a male and female knight and a male and female page instead of the knave.  It is said all of the court figures in the Visconti decks, as well as a large number of the figures in the Majors, are painted to resemble specific members of the Visconti family, some who lived at the time the deck was painted, some who lived more or less in the family history books.
 
The deck itself is slightly smaller than standard, the usual size for all LoScarabeo divination decks up until last year.  The cards are printed on good stock and will stand up to some use, but with the gold foil on them, they look too rich and splendid for me to really want to handle them all that much.  They do handle real easily, however, and would especially be terrific for doing readings at Renaissance Faires and the like.  I like taking them out and treating myself every now and then.  Instead of a little white booklet they come with the usual set of cards printed with the simplified meanings in five languages.  With the white text on black card stock, the meanings are a little hard to read.
 
Even with the small problems with this deck, it is a joy to use and look at, so I can highly and easily recommend it.  Collectors should consider this the Visconti deck to get.  Although I can see where some people wouldn't consider it as authentic as the Pierpont Morgan and the Cary Yale, frankly, unless you can actually buy some of those original cards, any reproduction is going to be a dilution of authenticity.  For anyone who is accustomed to reading with a classic Marseille style deck, this will make for a refreshing, interesting and attractive alternative.  Definitely get this one!
 
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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace
 
Visconti Tarots by A. A. Atanassov, 1997
published by LoScarabeo, Torino
 
for more information on ordering, email Wicce here.