Some interesting correlations between Paradiso's Cantos and the images of Tarot.
When Dante and Beatrice who is Theology first step out in Paradiso to the Moon, it is in the sphere of Faith.
The first Person on this lowest level he meets is Piccarda Donati.

Piccarda explains to Dante that her placement is due to "vows neglected and, in part, no longer valid." When she was alive, Piccarda, a nun, was forcibly removed from her convent by her brother Corso, in order to marry her to a Florentine man and further her family's political interests. She died soon after her wedding. In her acquiescence to her brother's wishes, though forced, she neglected her vows to God.
Through Dante's encounter with Piccarda, we first begin to learn about the nature of Heaven. For example, we learn that souls in Heaven become much more beautiful than they were on Earth; in fact, it takes Dante a while to actually recognize Piccarda as the woman he knew. In higher spheres, souls become so beautiful they cease to resemble their earthly selves. Piccarda is the only person Dante will recognize, unaided, in Heaven.

Next he meets Empress Constance.

This "great Constance" (Costanza) was the empress Constance (1152-98), wife of Henry VI, mother of Frederick II (the last dominant Holy Roman Emperor of the Middle Ages), and grandmother of Manfred. Like Piccarda, Constance was forced to leave her convent to enter into a political marriage. Dante's choice of Constance for the sphere of the Moon is a good example of his poetry of names, technically known as interpretatio nominis, which is based on an illuminating resonance between a person's name and his or her fate (or character). See Ciacco, Pier della Vigna, and Sapia. Here Dante exploits the traditional conception of the Moon as both the planet of Diana, the virgin goddess, and the planet of mutability or inconstancy. Piccarda, who was a "virgin sister" in the world, insists that though Costanza nominally broke her vows when she was forced to leave the convent, she nevertheless remained true to her promise--and thus to her name ("Constance")--in her heart.

Thence to Mercury...where he meets Justinaian who the emperor - a talented orator driven to worldly achievement by the desire for honor and fame ~Lorredan

You've stumbled onto my theory Lorredan. Keep going though...every card is there.

For a dead end approach to Dante (in my opinion) check out Berti's pack here: The Dante Tarot - An Examination by Paula Gibby, http://www.tarotpassages.com/danteart-pg.htm

The Divine Comedy written by Dante Aligheri is divided into three parts- The Inferno or Hell, Purgatorio or Purgatory and Paradiso or Paradise/Heaven. Each section has 33 cantos.
I am concentrating on Paradiso, because it is based on the four Cardinal Virtues and the three Theological virtues.
The Divine Comedy is on the surface the journey to God and it’s source of Caritas or Divine Love. Dante is guided by Beatrice who represents Theology, through 9 spheres to the highest fire of God’s abode.
The Spheres are Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The Fixed Stars (Where the Theologicals are) and the outer sphere called the Primum Mobile. The first three spheres Moon, Mercury and Venus, lie in the shadow of the Earth- so the negative side of Fortitude, Justice and Temperance. The next four Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn show the positive aspects of Prudence, Fortitude, Justice and Temperance. All three Theological Virtues are in Sphere 8.
As Dante and Beatrice travel the spheres , Dante stops and speaks to various people.
Although the Theological Virtues are together in the 8th Sphere, They are also divided among the 9 Spheres, by for example Faith is the Sphere of the Moon, although the negative side is called Inconstant, and examples are given by whom Dante meets.
In the Shadow of Earth is (Lowly place in paradise)
Moon…he speaks to Piccardo Donati and Empress Constance - the are deficient in FORTITUDE.
Mercury, The Ambitious….he speaks to Emperor Justinian.,who in Turn speaks of Ceasar-- who is deficient in JUSTICE
Venus…The Lovers.. he speaks to Charles Martel and Cunizza Da Romano (she ran off with a poet) and they are deficient in TEMPERANCE.
He also speaks to Folquet of Marseilles who says Venus is just at the edge of the Shadow. This man was known first as a Troubadour- then as the Bishop of Toulouse - he criticises Florence and the Florin- the bases of corruption and the turning away from the Scriptures. He said Florence was created by Satan.

Sun …The Wise and Dante meets 12 people who show PRUDENCE, amongst whom is Thomas Aquinas and King Solomon.
Mars…The Warriors and Dante meets those who show FORTITUDE like Cacciaguida, who is Dante’s Grandfather and Italian crusader, and others like Joshua of the Bible and Charlemagne (interesting that Sforza is shown as Fortitude in the PMB)
Jupiter.. The Just Rulers. Dante meets amongst others David, Trajan and Constantine showing the Virtue of JUSTICE.
Saturn..The Contemplatives Dante meets Saint Damian and speaks of Monasticism. Peter Damian was reformer Monk and became a Doctor of the Church.
The Fixed stars of Faith Hope and Charity and Dante meets Saint Peter who quizzes him on Faith, Saint James on Hope and Saint John the Apostle on Love (while of Course ! ) This sphere is called the Church Triumphant. I have just read Pheaded post above ...is there copywrite on a stumble? I thought the Ur Tarot was about the Battle of Alighari
~Lorredan

The Dante Tarot is very interesting (thanks Phaeded), but here are some illustrations of Paradiso- nearer the time
http://www.worldofdante.org/gallery_yates_thompson.html
This is 1441 Then there is the artist Giovanni di Paolo in 1445. ~Lorredan

"I am concentrating on Paradiso, because it is based on the four Cardinal Virtues and the three Theological virtues."

Me too.

Will be posting more details in the Researcher's Study, hopefully early next week. But for now, ponder why would Dante have appealed to the Medici party after Anghiari (or as a means of celebrating Anghiari)?

Firstly I should state that I became interested in Dante's Paradiso, because Marco posted his bowling game, and it reminded me of Dante's Divine Comedy.
I think the PMB Sforza Visconti deck was most likely commissioned as a celebration of 'The Golden Ambrosian Republic' in 1447.(It only lasted until Sforza took Milan) Note Ambrose surrounded by Virtues.
I think by this time the Card game had stabilized- but minus the Tower and Devil.(by leaving these two cards out)
Saint Ambrose also wrote a book- his third, I believe called 'On Paradise' and it was about The Soldier Apostle Saul/Paul. It would not translate well into images for cards (my belief)
Here is the opening lines....

On approaching this subject, I seem to be possessed by an unusual eagerness in my quest to clarify the facts about Paradise, its place, and its nature to those who are desirous of this knowledge. This is all the more remarkable since the Apostle (Paul the Soldier) did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body, yet he says that he 'was caught up to the third heaven.' [ 2 Cor. 12:2 ]

Also Saint Ambrose talks about the Virtues...Here he talks about Fortitude

The third age lies in the period of the Law of Moses and in the time of the other Apostles. 'For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, of Barac, of Samson, of David and of Samuel, Elias and Elisaeus, who by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, recovered strength from weakness, became valiant in battle and captured the camps of aliens.' [ Heb 11:32-34 ] Not without reason, then, do these men stand as types of fortitude. Further on we are told: 'They were sawed asunder, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword. They went about in goatskins, destitute, distressed, afflicted-of whom the world was not worthy-wandering in deserts, mountains, caves and holes in the earth.' [ Heb 11:37,38 ] Appropriately, therefore, do we set these men down as types of Fortitude.

There is this relationship with the Number three. Dante's 'Paridiso' is the 3rd Section
'On Paradise' is Ambrose's third Book.
Mars's sphere in Dante relates to the Third sphere in Saint Ambrose.
As I think this was to celebrate the Ambrosian Repulic, I still have no idea where Tarot originated, but it would not surprise me if that place was Pavia.
~Lorredan

Lorredan wrote:Firstly I should state that I became interested in Dante's Paradiso, because Marco posted his bowling game, and it reminded me of Dante's Divine Comedy.

Thank you Lorredan, I would never had thought of this connection
But I noticed the similarity between the diagram you posted (from Sacrobosco, I think) and Hopkins' “De Ludo Globi” diagram.




In Sacrobosco's geocentric diagram, the most external circle is labelled “the empyrean heaven, site of God and of all the elected”, whereas in Cusanus theocentric game the throne of God is placed in the inner circle. An interesting difference...

Lorredan wrote:

Note Ambrose surrounded by Virtues.

I don't remember seeing this image before, not bad for a Milanese

Wikipedia has a slightly better version. e-codices.unifr.ch provides an explanation in French. S.Ambrose is sorrounded, inside the circle, by the four cardinal virtues. The four allegories outside the circle likely represent the four elements (identified by the colour of their globes).

Years ago, Michael Hurst reviewed a couple of essays on the topic of Tarot and Dante on his old site cartedatrionfi.
I think Robert O' Neill might also have written about the subject, but what I have found online does not seem to be very informative.

Thank you for your clear and mostly accurate summary of the Paradiso, Lorredan. I still have a question I raised on another thread, about this part of your first post here:

As Dante and Beatrice travel the spheres , Dante stops and speaks to various people.
Although the Theological Virtues are together in the 8th Sphere, They are also divided among the 9 Spheres, by for example Faith is the Sphere of the Moon, although the negative side is called Inconstant, and examples are given by whom Dante meets.

It seems to me that everyone in Paradise is going to have some of all 7 virtues--and other virtues as well; they have to have, in order to rise that high. They have to have, even to gotten as far as Purgatory. Purgatory lightens their load, if necessary, burning off some of their vices, so they can rise higher. The question for me is the pairing of Inconstancy with Faith. Dante pairs it with Fortitude, it appears. Where is there a pairing of Inconstancy with Faith? It makes sense, I know, If your faith is inconstant, maybe it's because your faith is too weak, and not your fortitude. It also makes sense that the Moon card might be associated with weakness in faith: maybe that's why the lady on the PMB, and on a 16th century Venetian Moon card, are so distressed.

On the other hand, the Cary Sheet card (http://www.tarothistory.com/images/carystarmoon.jpg), in that it looks scary, suggests a weakness in Fortitude. And weakness in Fortitude could also apply to the other cards I just mentioned: they're in danger of losing their nerve. This could be a promising line of inquiry, I think, seeing the Moon in terms of the virtue one is weak in. So are the people in Dante's sphere of the Moon weak in faith or in fortitude? And what fits the tarot better, if either? And at what stage in its development? The Charles VI Moon, for example, is something else. And how does this apply to the other luminaries. Is the Star deficiency in Temperance, i.e. Venus, which might well be the figure on the Cary Sheet card, with a star on the person's shoulder?

And are the Gemini, which appear on the Sun card at some point, governed by Mercury, and so deficient in justice? In the myth, they get into their predicament while stealing cattle, as I recall. But the early versions (Sforza Castle, Noblet) have a man and a woman. The Bagatella, on the other hand, might be thought of as deficient in justice, in that he tricks people with his cups game.

Three of these cards (from the Cary Sheet and Marseille) are rather late, but two, one for each of the first two planets, are already in the PMB--although one is from the 2nd artist, which might be pretty late, too. Possibly even the third PMB card, the Star (also 2nd artist), is deficient in temperance, if in fact there is something sexually alluring about her. Phaeded says that she has cleavage. I don't see it, but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough. The Popess, as Pope Joan in Boccaccio, is also deficient in temperance. But she doesn't look very sexy, in any of the versions. Some of the other cards represent deficiencies, from Giotto: the Fool, in Prudence, the Tower in, I think, Faith, the Hanged Man, Hope. I forget what the Devil is deficient in--maybe everything. I'll see if I've written anything about it elsewhere. (Added later: I see that I wrote earlier, viewtopic.php?f=12&t=848&start=20#p12160, that his vice was depicted as Envy. I don't know what virtue that makes him deficient in. He also was characteized as having overweening Pride: that would be deficiency in Humility, which is the root of all the virtues.) (Added later: the liquid that the PMB Temperance lady is pouring into the lower jug, in Visconti manuscripts, is cold water: i.e. she's cooling the ardor. I get that from Dorez. This is also suggested by her blue and red dress .)

Marco wrote

In Sacrobosco's geocentric diagram, the most external circle is labelled “the empyrean heaven, site of God and of all the elected”, whereas in Cusanus theocentric game the throne of God is placed in the inner circle. An interesting difference...

It is interesting, but for a game try bowling in a circle from the inside outwards... I am left handed anyway- I would be like a drunk discus Thrower.
All jokes aside it is a interesting point for philosophical consideration.
You gave me the biggest laugh with the comment "Not bad for a Milanese"
Here in New Zealand we would say with some sarcasim "Not bad for a girl from Ekatahuna" (The uncultured back blocks)
Mikeh Hi!
Firstly there is a sort of predistination about Dante and the whole thing is placed Astrologically so the Centre is Jerusalem.
In Heaven, everyone is happy about where they are, it would be Vanity or worse to second guess God; so they do not rise through the spheres. Dante would like to be in closer, but he notes with pride that his Sun sign is Gemini which is ruled by Mercury(which brings to mind Tarot Sun with the twins)So Communication is his skill. Beatrice keeps reminding him to 'Talk'
Now the two Nuns Dante speaks to- Piccarda and Constance were forced to leave the convents to make political marriages- and although forced they were still somewhat 'inconstant' about Faith. You could say that Piccarda who died very shortly after marriage took that road out of her predicament, and Constance remained constant or faithful to her beliefs. They lack Fortitude/Strength to remain as Nuns, but they are still in Heaven- be it on the Low sphere or in the shadow of the earth.
The Soldiers in Mars are out of the shadow of the Earth- so they are warriors of Christ.
All in heaven are already dead (naturally)before Dante writes...and he seemed to pick names that illustrate what he is saying...Like Constance for her remaining constant.
~Lorredan

To Mikeh:
I have often wondered if the designer of theHandpainted PMB etc did not like the usual depictions of the Star, and it was one reason this card is one of the 6 painted by a different hand, or as replacements.
The Cary Yale Sheet Star and Moon are obviously very different to the PMB etc.
The Star, Looks like Aquarius and also has an element of Temperance, pouring from twin jugs into the river/sea.
Traditionly Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, but I think in the Comedy Leo is mentioned,???
In the Inferno this is one translation from the web....I have an older more poetic version in English.
Cantos 24 Inferno

In that part of the new year, when the sun cools his rays under Aquarius, and the nights already shorten towards the equinox; when the hoar-frost copies its white sister the snow’s image on the ground, but the hardness of its tracery lasts only a little time; the peasant, whose fodder is exhausted, rises and looks out, and sees the fields all white, at which he strikes his thigh, goes back into the house, and wanders to and fro, lamenting, like a wretch who does not know what to do; then comes out again, and regains hope, seeing how the world has changed its aspect, in a moment; and takes his crook, and chases his lambs out to feed; so the Master made me disheartened, when I saw his forehead so troubled: but the plaster arrived quickly for the wound.

For, when we reached the shattered arch, my guide turned to me with that sweet aspect, that I first saw at the base of the mountain. He opened his arms, after having made some plan in his mind, first looking carefully at the ruin, and took hold of me. And like one who prepares and calculates, always seeming to provide in advance, so he, lifting me up towards the summit of one big block, searched for another fragment, saying: ‘Now clamber over that, but check first if it will carry you.’

It was no route for one clothed in a cloak of lead, since we could hardly climb from rock to rock, he weighing little, and I pushed from behind. And if the ascent were not shorter on that side than on the other, I would truly have been defeated, I do not know about him. But as Malebolge all drops towards the entrance to the lowest well, the position of every valley implies that the one side rises, and the other falls: at last, we came, however, to the point at which the last boulder ends.

The breath was so driven from my lungs, when I was up, that I could go no further: in fact, I sat down when I arrived. The Master said: ‘Now, you must free yourself from sloth: men do not achieve fame, sitting on down, or under coverlets; fame, without which whoever consumes his life leaves only such trace of himself, on earth, as smoke does in the air, or foam on water: so rise, and overcome weariness with spirit, that wins every battle, if it does not lie down with the gross body. A longer ladder must be climbed: to have left these behind is not enough: if you understand me, act now so it may profit you.’

I rose then, showing myself to be better filled with breath than I thought, and said: ‘Go on, I am strong again and ardent.

I am not particulary good at understanding medieval astrology, But in the Sphere of Dante's Saturn is Temperance.
If the cards were of Dante/Paradiso origin then Maybe the Star looks more like Aquarius, than Saturn of The Contemplatives.So Sforza changed them?
~Lorredan