Sola Busca tarot
{{Short description|15th-century Italian tarot deck}}
The Sola Busca tarot is the earliest completely extant example of a 78-card tarot deck. It is also the earliest tarot deck in which all the plain suit cards are illustrated{{cite web |last1=Berti |first1=Giordano |title=History of Sola-Busca Tarot |url=https://solabuscatarot1998mayer.wordpress.com/history-of-sola-busca-tarot-2/ |website=Sola-Busca Tarot Mayer 1998 |accessdate=10 April 2020 |language=en |date=2013 |author-link=Giordano Berti}}{{cite book |last1=Kaplan |first1=Stuart |title=Encyclopedia of Tarot |date=1990 |publisher=U.S. Games Systems |isbn=0880791225 |page=30 |volume=3}} and it is also the earliest tarot deck in which the trump card illustrations deviate from the classic tarot iconography. Unlike the earlier Visconti-Sforza tarot decks, the cards of the Sola Busca are numbered. The trump cards have Roman numerals while the pips of the plain suits have Arabic numerals.
The deck was created by an unknown artist and engraved onto metal in the late 15th century. A single complete hand-painted deck is known to exist, along with 35 uncolored cards held by various museums.{{cite web |title=Collection online |url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1339920&partId=1&searchText=sola+busca&page=1/ |publisher=British Museum |accessdate=23 March 2020}} The deck is notable not only for its age, but also for the quality of its artwork, which is characterized by expressive figures engraved with precise contours and shading.{{cite journal |last1=Zucker |first1=Mark J. |title=The Master of the 'Sola-Busca Tarocchi' and the Rediscovery of Some Ferrarese Engravings of the Fifteenth Century |journal=Artibus et Historiae |date=1997 |volume=18 |issue=35 |pages=181–194 |doi=10.2307/1483546}} Various theories have been suggested about who created the deck, but its authorship remains uncertain.{{cite web |last1=Bezzone |first1=Francesca |title=Mystery and history of art merge together in the Sola Busca tarots |url=https://italoamericano.org/story/2019-4-5/sola-busca-tarots |website=L'Italo-Americano |accessdate=11 April 2020 |language=en |date=5 April 2019}}
Composition
The Sola-Busca deck comprises 78 cards including 21 trumps (trionfi) plus the Fool (Matte) and 56 suit cards. There had been many previous decks structured in this way.{{cite book |last=Dummett |first=Michael |date=1980 |title=The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City |publisher=Duckworth |location=University of California}} The names and illustrations on the trump cards in the Sola Busca are somewhat idiosyncratic for its time. The departure from classic trump iconography in the Sola Busca is a trait shared by later French suited tarot decks such as the Bourgeois Tarot and the Industrie und Glück Tarock decks.
The characters depicted in the Sola-Busca cards include Nebuchadnezzar and Gaius Marius, the uncle of Julius Caesar. Trump cards loosely follow the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, and include members of the Roman Pantheon such as Bacchus. All the characters can be easily linked to their equivalents in standard tarot decks.
Painted deck
The complete painted deck is housed at the Brera Museum in Milan. It can trace its provenance to the noble Busca-Serbelloni family. In the early 19th century, the deck was owned by Marchioness Busca (born Duchess Serbelloni) of Milan. In 1907, the Busca-Serbelloni family donated black-and-white photographs of all 78 cards to the British Museum, where they were likely seen by A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, inspiring the subsequent Rider–Waite Tarot deck.{{cite web |last1=Berti |first1=Giordano |title=Sola-Busca & Waite-Smith Tarot |url=https://solabuscatarot1998mayer.wordpress.com/sola-busca-waite-smith-tarot/ |website=Sola-Busca Tarot Mayer 1998 |accessdate=10 April 2020 |language=en |date=2013 |author-link=Giordano Berti}} From 1948, the deck was owned by the Sola-Busca family, from which it received its name. In 2009, the deck was purchased for {{Euro|800,000}} by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and delivered to the Brera Museum.{{cite news |last1=Panza |first1=Pierluigi |title=I tarocchi per rilanciare Brera |url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/febbraio/16/tarocchi_per_rilanciare_Brera_co_9_100216071.shtml |work=Corriere della Sera |date=16 February 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615045952/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/febbraio/16/tarocchi_per_rilanciare_Brera_co_9_100216071.shtml |archivedate=15 June 2015 |page=39 |language=it}}
Unpainted cards
Thirty-five unpainted cards are also known. The Albertina museum in Vienna owns 23, including all of the trumps except the first and last, Mato and Nabuchodenasor.{{cite book |last1=Kaplan |first1=Stuart |title=Encyclopedia of Tarot |date=1990 |publisher=U.S. Games Systems |isbn=0880791225 |page=297 |volume=2}} The 20 trump cards originally belonged to Count Moritz von Fries, while the other three came from the Imperial Court Library.{{cite book |last1=Willshire |first1=William Hughes |title=A Descriptive Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum |date=1876 |publisher=Chiswick Press |pages=77–78}}
The British Museum owns four unpainted cards, which it purchased from William and George Smith in 1845. Four unpainted cards are also housed in Hamburg and Paris.
Impact
The similarities between the artwork of the Minor Arcana of the Waite-Smith deck and Sola-Busca's plain suits has led some scholars to suggest that artist Pamela Colman Smith drew inspiration from the earlier work. Smith created the art for her deck two years after the acquisition of photographs of the Sola-Busca deck by the British Museum, and likely saw the cards on display there. Notable similarities include the Three of Swords card and the Ten of Wands card in the Rider deck, which is very similar to the Ten of Swords card in the Sola-Busca deck.
Research
In 1938, Arthur Mayger Hind described the Sola Busca Tarot in his Early Italian Engravings and supposed that the deck was engraved around 1490 and then hand-painted in 1491, as a result of reading some of the inscriptions on the cards. He also supposed that the deck was created for a Venetian client by Mattia Serrati da Cosandola, a miniaturist operating in Ferrara (the center of Tarot card production at the time). In fact, many inscriptions on the cards refer without any doubt to the Republic of Venice.{{cite book |last=Hind |first=Arthur |date=1938 |title=Early Italian Engravings |pages=241-247, 370-393}}
In 1987, in the catalogue of a great Tarot exhibition realized at the Estense Castle of Ferrara, Italian historian Giordano Berti wrote a summary of all the research made up to that point by various scholars.{{cite book |last=Berti|first=Giordano|date=1987 |title=Le Carte di Corte. Gioco e Magia alla Corte degli Estensi |publisher=Nuova Alfa Editoriale|isbn=88-7779-016-4|location=Bologna|pages=88-91|author-link=Giordano Berti}}
In 1995 the Italian scholar Sofia Di Vincenzo, in her book titled Antichi Tarocchi illuminati. L'alchimia nei Tarocchi Sola-Busca (Turin, 1995 and Stamford, 1998), argued that many images of the Sola Busca deck are related to themes of European alchemy as practised during the Renaissance. {{cite book |last=Di Vincenzo |first=Sofia|date=1998 |title=Sola Busca Tarot |publisher=U.S.Games Systems|isbn=1-57281-130-7|location=Stamford|pages=25-33}}
In 1998, the German publisher Wolfgang Mayer printed, for the first time, a faithful version of the 78 cards in a limited edition of 700 numbered copies.
In 2012, the Pinacoteca di Brera organized the exhibition Il Segreto dei Segreti - I Tarocchi Sola Busca e la cultura ermetico-alchemica. In the catalog, the possible author of the engravings, Nicola di Maestro Antonio, the possible inspirer, the hermeticist Ludovico Lazzarelli, the year and place of execution of the color version, Venice in 1491, are suggested. It has been established in an irrefutable way that the Sola Busca Tarot is linked to the hermetic-alchemical tradition. The key figure is the King of Swords, titled Alecxandro M. (Alexander the Great), who according to a legend, reported in the medieval book entitled Secretum secretorum, was initiated into alchemy by his master, the philosopher Aristotle. {{cite book |last=Various |first=authors|date=2012 |title=Il Segreto dei Segreti - I Tarocchi Sola Busca e la cultura ermetico-alchemica tra Marche e Veneto alla fine del Quattrocento |publisher=Skira|isbn=978-88-572-1764-2|location=Milan}}
In addition to Alexander the Great there are other characters linked to the hermetic-alchemical tradition. The Knight of Swords, Amone, refers to Zeus Ammon, the mythical putative father of Alexander who welcomed him in the Siwah Oasis. The Queen of Swords, Olympias, Alexander's mother, was known as a sorceress. The Knight of Cups, Natanabo, (Nectanebo), was an Egyptian priest and magician. Prof. Gnaccolini, inspired by the study of Sofia Di Vincenzo, cites many other explicit alchemical allegories. {{cite book |last=Various |first=authors|date=2012 |title=Il Segreto dei Segreti - I Tarocchi Sola Busca e la cultura ermetico-alchemica tra Marche e Veneto alla fine del Quattrocento |publisher=Skira|isbn=978-88-572-1764-2|location=Milan}}
Trump suit
File:Sola Busca tarot card 00.jpg|0 – Mato
File:Sola Busca tarot card 01.jpg|I – Panfilio
File:Sola Busca tarot card 02.jpg|II – Postumio
File:Sola Busca tarot card 03.jpg|III – Lenpio
File:Sola Busca tarot card 04.jpg|IIII – Mario
File:Sola Busca tarot card 05.jpg|V – Catulo
File:Sola Busca tarot card 06.jpg|VI – Sesto
File:Sola Busca tarot card 07.jpg|VII – Deo Tauro
File:Sola Busca tarot card 08.jpg|VIII – Nerone
File:Sola Busca tarot card 09.jpg|VIIII – Falco
File:Sola Busca tarot card 10.jpg|X – Venturio
File:Sola Busca tarot card 11.jpg|XI – Tulio
File:Sola Busca tarot card 12.jpg|XII – Carbone
File:Sola Busca tarot card 13.jpg|XIII – Catone
File:Sola Busca tarot card 14.jpg|XIIII – Bocho
File:Sola Busca tarot card 15.jpg|XV – Metelo
File:Sola Busca tarot card 16.jpg|XVI – Olivo
File:Sola Busca tarot card 17.jpg|XVII – Ipeo
File:Sola Busca tarot card 18.jpg|XVIII – Lentulo
File:Sola Busca tarot card 19.jpg|XVIIII – Sabino
File:Sola Busca tarot card 20.jpg|XX – Nenbroto
File:Sola Busca tarot card 21.jpg|XXI – Nabuchodenasor
Plain suits
= [[Cups (suit)|Cups]] =
File:Sola Busca tarot card 22.jpg|Ace of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 23.jpg|Two of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 24.jpg|Three of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 25.jpg|Four of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 26.jpg|Five of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 27.jpg|Six of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 28.jpg|Seven of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 29.jpg|Eight of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 30.jpg|Nine of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 31.jpg|Ten of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 32.jpg|Knave of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 33.jpg|Knight of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 34.jpg|Queen of Cups
File:Sola Busca tarot card 35.jpg|King of Cups
= [[Coins (suit)|Coins]] =
File:Sola Busca tarot card 36.jpg|Ace of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 37.jpg|Two of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 38.jpg|Three of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 39.jpg|Four of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 40.jpg|Five of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 41.jpg|Six of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 42.jpg|Seven of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 43.jpg|Eight of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 44.jpg|Nine of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 45.jpg|Ten of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 46.jpg|Knave of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 47.jpg|Knight of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 48.jpg|Queen of Coins
File:Sola Busca tarot card 49.jpg|King of Coins
= [[Batons (suit)|Batons]] =
File:Sola Busca tarot card 50.jpg|Ace of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 51.jpg|Two of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 52.jpg|Three of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 53.jpg|Four of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 54.jpg|Five of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 55.jpg|Six of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 56.jpg|Seven of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 57.jpg|Eight of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 58.jpg|Nine of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 59.jpg|Ten of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 60.jpg|Knave of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 61.jpg|Knight of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 62.jpg|Queen of Batons
File:Sola Busca tarot card 63.jpg|King of Batons
= [[Swords (suit)|Swords]] =
File:Sola Busca tarot card 64.jpg|Ace of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 65.jpg|Two of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 66.jpg|Three of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 67.jpg|Four of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 68.jpg|Five of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 69.jpg|Six of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 70.jpg|Seven of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 71.jpg|Eight of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 72.jpg|Nine of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 73.jpg|Ten of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 74.jpg|Knave of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 75.jpg|Knight of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 76.jpg|Queen of Swords
File:Sola Busca tarot card 77.jpg|King of Swords
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commonscat|Sola-Busca tarot deck}}{{Occult tarot}}