Michael's Tarot Notebook

Michael's Tarot Notebook

Although the primary focus of the Notebook is an exegesis of the Tarot trumps’ intended meaning, there are some historical ideas presented. One in particular is noteworthy, and is the subject of its own page. The original form of Tarot is not known with certainly from the existing documentary evidence. Milan and Ferrara are the most commonly suggested places of origin. No “standard pattern” decks from Milan have survived. The French brought Tarot from Milan in the late fifteenth century, but the oldest extant standard pattern decks from France, known as Tarot de Marseille or TdM, are from the late seventeenth century. Based primarily on iconographic evidence and inference, it appears that two of the earliest surviving French decks (those by Chosson and Noblet) accurately reflect the iconography of fifteenth-century Milanese decks, and moreover that the original design of Tarot is reflected in one of them, and an intentional variation in the other.

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