The Visconti-Sforza Tarot is the collective name for the incomplete sets of about fifteen hand-painted card decks made in the middle of the fifteenth century and now held in museums, libraries and private collections around the world. No complete deck survives. They are the oldest surviving tarot cards and date from a time when tarot was still called trionfi, or triumphs, and was used for everyday card play. The decks were commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and by his successor and son-in-law Francesco Sforza, and they shaped the look, numbering and interpretation of later tarot decks. The three most famous sets are the Pierpont Morgan Bergamo deck of about 1451, the Cary-Yale deck, which is dated to around 1466 although some scholars think it may be the oldest, and the Brera-Brambilla deck, apparently painted by Bonifacio Bembo for Francesco Sforza in 1463. The cards also show members of the two ruling families in period dress and offer a view of noble life in Renaissance Milan.
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Source Visconti-Sforza Tarot (Wikipedia)Introduction [origin-region]Quote, Introduction [origin-region]
They were commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan
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1. Visconti-Sforza Tarot (Wikipedia)
Introduction
They are the oldest surviving tarot cards
Pierpont Morgan Bergamo
was produced around 1451
Introduction [origin-region]
They were commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan
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