Games of Chance in the Renaissance

[Lorredan]

I was not sure where to put this image.
It came from a rare book that I can no longer find.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/heavenlycra ... w0045s.jpg
It is thought that is Milan (Leopard)on left and Venice on right (Dolphin)

~Lorredan

[Huck]

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/heavenlycra ... -16th.html

From a Milan 1508 edition of Lorenzo Spirito's lot book 1482.

Wheels of Fortune and Games of Chance
Milan, 1508

This 1508 Milan edition of Lorenzo Spirito's Book of Chance is illustrated with numerous full-page woodcuts, four-part border designs, portraits, and images of the signs of the zodiac. Many of the designs are very well done, especially those that appear in the center of the wheels of fortune and in the woodcut borders below the wheels. In this opening, the leopard (left) is cut in a thick outline and modeled with precise curved lines. The leopard's formal pose is particularly appealing because it projects a dignity commensurate with the animal's position in the hierarchy of the animal kingdom. The dolphin (right) is similarly cut and set within a sea of curved lines against a well-defined architectural background. The dolphin's design reflects classical origins. The animal projects an aggressive attitude, suggesting the dolphin's importance as protector of the city of Venice. The well-designed woodcut borders of the hunt (left) and the putti at play (right) are symbols of the vagaries of life, in which good fortune and calamity are equally possible.

This is a lot book ... I think, a "game of chance" is commonly understood different, implying money and not destinies. Or am I wrong?

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Btw. ... there is new tool at google-images. If you click the small photo-icon in the search bar, and paste a link to a picture (as I did with your unknown picture), it will give you this:
https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:A ... 40&bih=768

This is an important improvement, very helpful ... one should know about it.

[Lorredan]

Thanks Huck I will be able to track disparate items I have in my files and find out where they came from.
I am not such a good archivist.
Now to your comment....

This is a lot book ... I think, a "game of chance" is commonly understood different, implying money and not destinies. Or am I wrong?

You are right, but the field gets a bit blurred....Tarot reading is bit like throwing dice with cards- so is picking a flower and counting 'He loves me- He loves me not' is something about destiny I think. If the flower tells you' he Loves me' you will act differently. In other wheel of Fortune games 16th Century, you spin the wheel and have where it stops answer your question.
The Lot book for example.... When should I go to Venice?
The Lot pointer stops at Virgo..... it is likely that you will go to Venice in August. That is destiny if you take that advice- but is very unlike astrology which has definite dates to go by and a reading is done over a whole life.
In any case as far as that image goes- it is about Lots from which we get Lotto the true game of chance.
~Lorredan