Thanks for freeing up the terrain, Steve. The question at hand now is, what is the "mother of the virtues" or "mother of virtues" (given that there is no definite article in the Latin, per Marco's quote) in this particular painting by Mantegna, in which the "mother" is ...

Well, I'm not sure, now that you ask, Ross. Thanks. It should have been a question, not a statement: Can we be clear that Prudence is identified with Minerva? Campbell quotes an essay defending that view, without much elaboration. I have ordered the book from Interlibrary Loan. Hopefully in a week o...

Thanks for posting the Lollio, Pen. And yes, Lorredan, I'd say Justice seems to change its meaning, between low and high end. I will try to figure out what you mean by Malatesta's Temple or at least before it was bombed looked like Tarot 22 not Ludus triumpi 14. One minor issue: I didn't know Malate...

Wonderful, Pen. Much appreciated. I haven't a clue what a lot of it means.

Huck, I don't understand how you get Doxia = Eternity. Doxa means "opinion", which is fleeting. If anybody is eternal, it's Alithia = Truth. Also, in the painting, Justice is the one in blue holding the scales. And let us be clear, I hope, that Prudence is not the "Mother of the Virtu...

A transcript of Dummett's translation of all of Lollio's Invective, more than the brief passage Vitali has in his essay, http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=199&lng=eng? Wow. I hope you will post it sometime. I'd love to see it. I totally agree with your concern about the order of trumps, Lorreda...

This is certainly a fun thread to read. I hope you get a chance to read the "chariot" section of the Phaedrus yourself, Robert. It is Plato at his best, very complex and evocative. It was widely read and discussed in the 1440s.The nice thing about pictures is that they are simple, while wh...

Ross wrote, in answer to my query about how it is known where the Charles VI is from Below is an account of how it was done, but first, here is a summary of the important points: - Charles VI and Catania are related - certainly the same workshop, if not the same artist. - Charles VI and Catania had ...

Ross: thanks for explaining why you say the Charles VI is Florentine. That helps me. Now I have something I can look for holes in; then, Ih hope, you can fill them in for me--or deny that they are holes. I'll work on it. It is kind of a side-issue, since I don't see Huck quarreling with you on that ...

Nice, with the Jester and the Old Man, Huck. There's also an Archer. And maybe the designer looked at the cards and said, yes, I can use a couple of those. But it's something, your chess set. Every little bit helps. Likewise your King and Queen. They're nothing to rest a theory on, of course, but yo...