Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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Maybe you do not know how big the sale of indulgences was in the 15/16th Centuries.
Before the printing press, they were hand illuminated and you gave a percentage of your income for one.
Gutenberg's workshop was set up at Hof Humbrecht, a property belonging to a distant relative. It is not clear when Gutenberg conceived the Bible project, but for this he borrowed another 800 guilders from Fust, and work commenced in 1452. At the same time, the press was also printing other, more lucrative texts (possibly Latin grammars). There is also some speculation that there may have been two presses, one for the pedestrian texts, and one for the Bible. One of the profit-making enterprises of the new press was the printing of thousands of indulgences for the church, documented from 1454–55
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The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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Now what if......The Tarot de Marseille-ish type World cards were an enlarged version of an apostolic seal that has to be on Indulgences- like the one printed in the above indulgence?
I have been looking for an apostolic seal but until I do here is an example of a seal for placing on documents. I have been laughing because Robert always said it might be Christ in Victory on the card- and I poo-pooed the idea.
I am eating my hat at this point.
~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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... :-) ... I don't know, what your final hypothesis shall be.

As far the indulgences (German Ablaß) in Germany are concerned, Gutenberg's special printing activities surely related to the visit of Capistranus in Germany, which was accompanied by playing card burnings.

And Capistranus' visit was related to various things ... a near crusade to come, a financial attempt to get money for the church from Germany, after Germany had developed a sort of independence during the time of the counter-pope Felix and the council of Basel, following the detection, that the Jubilee year 1450 and its increased pilgrim tourism had brought a lot of money, and the opinion, that where some money is, there's likely some more, further to the general fresh wind and the success of the Franciscans, who appeared as foes of card playing and who recently had gotten St. Bernardino as a new saint (1450) ...
We have the attempt without success to turn the current bias against playing cards also against Trionfi cards in Padova (so on Venetian territory, 1455), and the political answer of Borso in Ferrara, who had made Trotti writing a sort of political and juristic excuse (1456), that "Trionfi" was a game of the category "played with skill" and not of the category "played with luck".

In Germany the Capistranus preachings were rather successful, playing card industry suffered a few years. How much the momentary trend of the time worked in Italy is a matter of dispute ... or at least "not clear". The lists of the silk-dealers in Florence display a "peak of production" between 1452-1455 and a slow-down till 1460, but this might present "personal reasons" of the silk dealer business and its difficult to assume, as the Trionfi card activities of Borso in Ferrara and from Filippo di Marco in Florence don't display the same tendency.

Generally one might assume, that a motif to make Trionfi cards "similar to Chess", might have been this attempt to escape the persecution tendencies. Chess, earlier also occasionally an attacked game had been in this time more or less generally accepted, also by the clergy.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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Hmmmmm! I do not know what is correct, but from this exercise I found some things I do believe.
1. You cannot rely on who is depicted in paintings, and the dates given, because these works might might have been
pre ordered for something that did not in the end take place. Even Historical committes get it wrong. It is like putting people in a painting when they were not there in person. I believe this happened with Napoleon's wedding to Josephine for example.
2. I believe that the handpainted cards I love so dearly are a purified/spiritualized version of something that was already there; but shortened. One reason would be a devil would make it look more "folk" and therefore gambling.
3. I believe that you Huck, are right when you say ....a sort of political and juristic excuse (1456), that "Trionfi" was a game of the category "played with skill" and not of the category "played with luck".
4. I think 3. was a deliberate decision.
5. I think the handpainted cards i.e. Visconti were Trionfi not Tarocchi- but not anything to do with Petrarch except in the name and the idea of 'events'.
6. I believe that the cards called Visconti were painted aprox about 1450, because Sforza was not in a position to have had them painted earlier because Milan had not happened, and he was too busy soldiering anyway.
7.I believe that it is far more likely the sequence had something to do with Forgiveness i.e Festa del perdono than
any other reason I have read about in any Tarot book or on forums; because it explains every card and a sort of natural order.
8. Although I cannot explain this clearly- I think the attraction to Tarot is the same attraction people had to the genre of Bible Moralisse- a sort of pictorial goodness- a bit like why some fruit machine images are more popular when they show positive symbols.
~Lorredan.

p.s I believe that where the church is involved it wasalwzys about money.
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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I am not sure how to go about putting all this in order, so I will just blunder on.
When I started to search all this out ( cards for fundraising or at least for the celebration of the Festa del perdono)
I read a whole heap of books about when Indulgences were used and why and what were the problems and why it was a platform for Luther later on.
One can find lots about indulgences on the web- from both sides; Catholic and Protestant and those in the 15th Century who had a foot in each camp- or as they say today- A bob each way. So I will give just a brief outline.
Indulgences a far as Christians go was biblically based. There was these ongoing arguments about whether you get Salvation by Faith alone or it required 'good works' as well. Indulgences were given to shorten or annul the punishment in Purgatory (a medieval fiction) by "good works" for yourself or someone else. This was instead of the harsh Penances that were given. The good works were- going to a shrine as a pilgrim; going to the Crusades; finding a shrine or image and praying before it; money given for Hospitals,Church rebuilding, bridges, roads; having paintings or frescoes installed in Churches, buying Saint's images, commisioning things like Bible Moralisee/ Books of hours/Bibles/anything approved as holy education. It had to be of benefit in a holy way. So for example- you could buy an Indulgence for the road to a Church, but not one to your home. There was also a sort of Tax break for these good works and lots of arguments as to whether these merits were legal or not.
When the printing press came along- the medieval world via the church went Indulgence mad.Then all the abuses came along too.
One of the biggest time of Indulgence was the so called Jubilee or Holy Year. A 'Bull' was created by the Pope at Christmas before the Jubilee Year and started usually at a big feast day like the Annunciation- which in the case of Lombardy and Tuscany was also the Festa del Perdono held Bi- annually (in the case of Siena and Assisi every year)
The 'Bull' had a title and that title was a sort theme for the year. So you can sort of follow the themes in artwork and in devotional works.
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The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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The Picture above is Saint Christopher 1423- The earliest extant print of a Holy picture with Indulgence we have.
Saint Christopher was big in this year- but I will come to that.
The first Jubilee there are clear records for is 1300 the 'Bull' was created by Pope Boniface V111 and called
Antiquorum Habet Digna Fide Relatio or "Worthy of the Ancient Faith of the Revelation"
and an example would be Giotto's Expulsion of the Merchants 1300
1350 Jubilee was called Unigentus Dei Filus issued by Pope Clement V1 or "God's Only Begotton Son" and there are many works of Jesus on the Cross and Mary with Baby in Ceramics and Paint.
In 1390 because it was supposed to be 33 years but by the time it was decided it was now 1387 and these things take some organising so it was 40 years and there because of the arguing were two 'Bulls by two Popes (as expected)
Pope Boniface 1X issued Dudum Felicis Just Lucky????? and Pope Urban Salavator Noster Unigenitus Dei Filius or Our Saviour is the Only Begotton Son.
Then Pope Martin V proclaimed an extraordinary Holy Year to celebrate the end of the Schism- but because it was declared why there was no 'Bull' but it was understood to be something like Misericordia et Remissionem or Mercy and Forgiveness. It was 1423. it started of the printed Devotional Prayer books etc and made 'the word' available to people of less income than the ruling class; in them where the the penetional Psalms, prayers to Saint Christopher, prayers to the Virgin as intercession etc. This was the Holy year that Printers sold thousands of Indulgences and tokens (merits). It was also the time that printers could spread their risk- make Christian objects- get tax relief and sell secular printings like playing cards in bulk it would seem.
It was also the year that the Pope had the Ritual of the Opening of the Door and because of this the Four Evangalists became really popular as a Holy picture, because they matched the four doors.
Each Church had a door- but generally it is best described as this....and these are the so called 'Four Popes'
The Church of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Pope and associated with him as Patriarch of the West
St. Peter's Basilica is associated with the Patriarch of Constantinople
The Church of St. Paul-without-the-Walls Basilica is associated with the Patriarch of Alexandria
The Church of St. Mary Major is associated with the Patriarch of Antioch
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The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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Lorredan wrote:...
3. I believe that you Huck, are right when you say ....a sort of political and juristic excuse (1456), that "Trionfi" was a game of the category "played with skill" and not of the category "played with luck". ...
I speak of Trotti's text, and in this Trionfi cards are mentioned in a very small passage, but the text has totally more than 30 pages. It's a general defense of knight and nobility culture, and Trionfi cards play a minor role. Tournaments and chess take far more place for instance.
5. I think the handpainted cards i.e. Visconti were Trionfi not Tarocchi- but not anything to do with Petrarch except in the name and the idea of 'events'.
If you speak of PMB or 14 Bembo cards, you're likely right, that the Petrarca Trionfi interpretation was already rather far away.
If you speak of Cary-Yale Tarocchi, then I would assume, that this had a Petrarca influence.

We've meanwhile 5 "Trionfi cards" documents around 1440, we've at the same time an increased interest in Petrarca, especially documented by illustrated "Trionfi poem texts" and a Petrarca-Cassoni-fashion in Florence, and in the same time a "Trionfi-as-celebration" outburst of some dimension. If you decide to call these coincidences all accident, it's hardly believable.
Well, card games with predefined trump-structure might have existed before, but we've no evidence, that the word "Trionfi" was used for them. Celebrations, marriages, opportunities to enjoy a military victory, existed before, but this exaggerated cult-form as the typical 15th-century-Trionfi-genre had to develop.

Whole Europe had suffered with the plague (1348-50) and its repeated appearances, a better time during 12th and 13th century was gone. The general population loss stabilized around 1450, just the time, when Trionfi culture was born. Optimism returned ... world found a way out of depression. More believe in some future.
6. I believe that the cards called Visconti were painted aprox about 1450, because Sforza was not in a position to have had them painted earlier because Milan had not happened, and he was too busy soldiering anyway.
I think, there's a general agreement about this.
7.I believe that it is far more likely the sequence had something to do with Forgiveness i.e Festa del perdono than
any other reason I have read about in any Tarot book or on forums; because it explains every card and a sort of natural order.
8. Although I cannot explain this clearly- I think the attraction to Tarot is the same attraction people had to the genre of Bible Moralisse- a sort of pictorial goodness- a bit like why some fruit machine images are more popular when they show positive symbols.
I'm not fixed on the idea to interpret the cards. Surely Sforza had he idea to have a good relation with his citizens, and he normally forgave them their earlier hostility. Generally he made a lot progressive actions, his diplomacy system is praised, and the hospital is also praised as a great enterprise. He stopped the long lasting wars. The period after his death was likely the best in Italy during the whole century, and that likely not cause of Galeazzo Maria, but based on the good work of Sforza. He wasn't conquered like Lodovico, his son.

... :-) ... La Festa del Perdono della Ca' Granda di Milano ... why not.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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In 1450 was the next Holy Year and the Jubilee Bull was issued by Nicholas V and it was called "Immense and Countless" or Immensa et Innumerabilia and he was a Humanist Pope apparently. He was the Pope who was painted in Sforza and Bianca's Ospedale Maggoire- but was not there actually when it was opened.
It is said of him (by Wikipedia)
The eight scant years of his pontificate were important in the political, scientific, and literary history of the world. Politically, he concluded the Concordat of Vienna, or Aschaffenburg (17 February 1448) with the German King, Frederick III, by which the decrees of the Council of Basel against papal annates and reservations were abrogated so far as Germany was concerned. In the following year he secured a still greater tactical triumph with the resignation of the Antipope Felix V on 7 April) and his own recognition by the rump of the Council of Basel that assembled at Lausanne.
In 1450, Nicholas V held a Jubilee at Rome, and the offerings of the numerous pilgrims who thronged to Rome gave him the means of furthering the cause of culture in Italy, which he had so much at heart. In March 1452 he crowned Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor in St. Peter's, the last occasion of the coronation of an Emperor at Rome. Within the city of Rome, Nicholas V introduced the fresh spirit of the Renaissance. His plans were of embellishing the city with new monuments worthy of the capital of the Christian world.
So much money!
I believe that Francesco Sforza took the Bull to heart. I actually think in an emotional way on my part- that Sforza had some sort of conversion spiritually at this time. I know it was a pragmatic thing to have Peace and Hospitals and a republic type City but his treatment of some enemies could be called unexpected.
In 1550 the Jubilee was called of Gods and Shepherds...and all of a sudden you see lots of pastoral scences, including Legends and Ancient Gods- all with a message transferred into Christianity.
Next that 1725 requiremment for the Tarocchino of Bologna change.
~Lorredan
p.s just seen your post Huck
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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Lorredan wrote:In 1450 was the next Holy Year ...

So much money!
Yes, much money, especially, as Italy had exhausted itself by the war.
I believe that Francesco Sforza took the Bull to heart. I actually think in an emotional way on my part- that Sforza had some sort of conversion spiritually at this time. I know it was a pragmatic thing to have Peace and Hospitals and a republic type City but his treatment of some enemies could be called unexpected.
In 1550 the Jubilee was called of Gods and Shepherds...and all of a sudden you see lots of pastoral scences, including Legends and Ancient Gods- all with a message transferred into Christianity.
Next that 1725 requiremment for the Tarocchino of Bologna change.
I think, you get romantic here. I assume, that Sforza was a realist.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: The Grand Design of Francesco Sforza

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I think, you get romantic here. I assume, that Sforza was a realist.
Ha ! I admit it- in my defence I was raised with the unbelievable belief of saintly-ness of Christian figures- and wishfulness sneaks through sometimes. Sforza was not a realist as a mercenary- he knew how much the Popes changed their minds and how hard it was to get money out of Visconti......yet.....on and on he went.

What I really want to know is how come these cards (not the CharlesV1) called Visconti have different dates of origin apparently. Is it just because of their artwork? Why not a specific plan and execution by different artist studios within the same year?
I have not seen a convincing argument yet to date them one before the other- like the Brera is the oldest- no the Cary Yale is the oldest- etc. Why not consider the work spread around and the artwork would vary. So there are different coins- well if master naibi decks were commonplace, the one used as an example might have belonged to Visconti. So you believe the Cary-Yale is the oldest because of Petrarch influence?
If you or anyone can give me a concrete reason why these cards are so spread out yearwise- I would just appreciate that so much.
I do believe in the Petrarch outburst- but I would have to believe in the spread of years for all the catagory Visconti.
My thread was the point of the cards been an Indulgence set really, or at least decks that were exempt because of that aspect.

~Lorredan
The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts
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