In the context of the discussion in the Rosenwald Tarocchi thread ...
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1105&start=40#p18785
... I made some research on the Minchiate poem of 1552. The poem structures Minchiate in the domains of 4 procuresses (as already demonstrated in this thread long ago):
40-32 belongs to the 1st procuress = 19 Caritas (theological virtue)
31-23 belongs to the 2nd procuress = 18 Fides
22-10 belongs to the 3rd procuress = 17 Prudentia (cardinal virtue), which leaves out 19-18-16 (the other procuresses)
9-1 belongs to the 4th procuress = 16 Spes
The poem ... at
http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Germini_Poem:_Part_3 ... once translated by Marco Ponzi.
Text for 17 Prudentia:
The third procuress = 17 Prudentia
I am said to be a procuress of little things,
so I will have to speak, from the twenty-three down,
the unlucky life of every whore.
This looks like a great fatigue to me,
because my own daughter Sandra is named
and she is dirty, lousy and loathsome.
I must take care of nine
and I turn the one that is named the twenty-two.
Prudentia reigns from 22-10, leaving 16-18-19 (the other 3 procuresses) aside:
22 Earth (element)
21 Water (element)
20 Fire (element)
--
15 Tower (bad card)
14 Devil (bad card)
13 Death (bad card)
12 Hanging Man (bad card)
11 Age (Time; bad card)
--
10 triumphal chariot
... "twenty-three down"
23 is "Air" (the 4th element)
Prudentia reigns from 22 till 10, it doesn't include 23
... "daughter Sandra" is card 26, and that's Scorpio.
Scorpio is connected to Death, Death has the 13
2*13 = 26
... "I must take care of nine"
9-1 belongs to the 4th procuress
... "and I turn the one that is named the twenty-two."
Prudentia reigns from 22 till 10
... "I will have to speak, from the twenty-three down, the
unlucky life of every whore."
Prudentia has chosen for herself the unlucky things of life (the 5 bad cards).
***************
Observation of the 4 elements in context of the 4 procuresses (theological virtues + Prudentia)
Fire = 19 (Caritas) + 20 (Fire)
Water = 18 (Fides) + 21 (Water)
Earth = 17 (Prudentia) + 22 (Earth)
Air = 16 Hope) + 23 (Air)
The number sequence 19-18-17-16 mirrors the number sequence 20-21-22-23
Major symbols for the 4 procuresses:
Caritas has a flame
Fides has a cup (associates water) ... but that's not clear in Minchiate
Prudentia has a viper (symbol of earth)
Hope is accompanied by an anchor (the anchor associates a ship and a sail and this associates air; occasionally Hope is presented with wings) ... but that's clear in Minchiate
In the typical Minchiate the flame of Caritas and the viper of Prudentia are present ....
... but Fides and Spes go their own way