Smile ... well Place and Caldwell will appreciate ...

About Gyrofalcons, Steve wrote :

"The greatest, strongest and fastest of the trained Falcons - the sacred Falcon.

http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/GYROFALCONES



Original the symbol was an eagle, but was changed to a Girfalcus after the city was forced to submit to the two brothers of St. Louis, Alphonse of Poitiers and Charles of Anjou, heir by women in the counties of Toulouse and Provence. After the death of Alfonso, 1271, Philip the Bold inherited his share of Avignon, and he passed it in 1285 to his son Philip the Fair. It ceded in 1290 to Charles of Anjou, who therefore remained the sole owner of the entire city. In 1309, under Pope Clement V, Avignon became the residence of the popes, already owners of Venaissin; it was sold in 1348 to Clement VI by Jeanne, Queen of Naples and Countess of Provence, when the buidling emblem on the Seal of Avignon was replaced by three keys.

http://www.euraldic.com/lasu/tx/txt_vbh031_avignon.html

About the Crescent Order...
Heraldy investigation could be interesting ...
I noted the Wheel similar to the Goldschmidt on :
CHATEL (Tanneguy du)

Vicomte de La Bellière, grand maître de l'écurie de Charles VII et son premier écuyer, chambellan, grand maître d'hôtel et grand écuyer du duc de Bretagne, chambellan de Louis XL, chevalier de l'ordre de Saint-Michel, gouverneur du Roussillon et de la Cerdagne, capitaine de quatre-vingt-quinze lances,etc.; fils d'Olivier du Châtel et de Jeanne de Ploeuc; époux de Jeanne Raguenel de Malestroit, fille de Jean Raguenel, sire de Malestroit, vicomte de La Bellière, maréchal de Bretagne, et de Gillette de Malestroit; blessé mortellement au siège de Bouchain (1477), et inhumé la même année, par les soins de Louis XI, dans l'église de Notre-Dame-de-Cléry.





Also noted this one similar to a chess floor :"De gueules, à la fasce échiquetée d'argent et de sable".
MÉVOLHON (1) (Pierre de)


Seigneur de Ribiers, chambellan et grand écuyer de René d'Anjou, viguier de Marseille (1455) ; probablement fils de Guillaume, sénéchal de Beaucaire (1405) ; mort avant le 23 novembre 1471.

(1) Alias Mévillon, Mévouillon, Meuillon. L'origine de cette puissante et illustre maison, qui possédait les baronnies de Mévolhon et de Montauban, situées sur les marches du Dauphiné et de la Provence, se perd dans la nuit des temps, et tant de familles ont été substituées à ce nom, qu'il est très difficile de se reconnaître dans la généalogie de ceux qui l'ont porté.

... :-) ...

This sort of wheel isn't so rare and chess-board patterns are also relative common. Crowned dolphins are rare.

Right

But both are linked to King René
And for the first one to Charles VII and Louis XI
And for the second one , to Dauphiné and Provence.

Louis XI was a Crowned Dauphin and he was in 1447 in the Castel of Tarascon with René.

I don't know where was Cossa at this time (1447) but we know that he was with Isabelle de Lorraine since 1435 and Senechal of Provence and Lord of Grimaud since 1444 and was also present and important for the 1449 ProtoTarots deck(s)...
Wikipedia Jean COSSA : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Cossa
He is Knight of the Crescent since 1448
http://www.heraldique-europeenne.org/Ar ... ne_I_1.htm
Another member of his family also Gaspard Cossa : same heraldy without the crown

I also do not forget and remember that one scholar on two states that Cossa brought himself the decks to Provence...hmmm!
"The idea of the gift {to Isabelle de Lorraine] would have come from Scipine Carafa
who stopped at the Venetian Sforza camp outside Milan on his return from Charles VII 's court.
Marcello, Sforza and Giovanni, the core of the Croissant in Italy, were all three together at this time. Carafa came across a deck of cards during his visit to the camp and told Marcello that this sort of gift was perfect for René's wife; Not satisfied with the deck however, Marcello somehow managed to obtain the Visconti xards from inside the city (Milan). He also have the treatise on "tarot" (sic) by Marziano da Tortona that accompagnied them transcribed by Michele Salvatico, a proeminent Venice based scribe, and, on 12 november 1449, dispathched these to Provence (sic). He sent them by means of the man who happened to be his house guest : non other than King René right hand man, Giovanni Cossa."
http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/people/oren-margolis/
Maybe false maybe true : for the moment, the topic is opened.
About COSSA born 1400 in Ischia : he'll be one of the powerful person of the Angevins and will be at the side of King René, who will make him Seigneur de Grimaud,Sénéchal de Provence (1444) until his death in 1476.
https://books.google.fr/books?id=YEASDA ... sa&f=false
https://books.google.fr/books?id=qjv-hJ ... sa&f=false
In fact, he's at Isabelle de Lorraine side since before 1435, while René is still emprionned in Burgundy.
https://books.google.fr/books?id=RdWeII ... ne&f=false



Speculation : Could René, from this first proto tarot, have realized later on a hand painted luxury Deck on parchment of his own "fantaisie" and related to his history - painted second half XVth century?

Added November 26
Further speculation : if we admit the possibility of an etymological link between king René "Tarasque" and the Avignon 1505 "taraux" - then the datation would be after the gifts of the geographies of Ptolemeus 1457 or of STRABON 1459 : see viewtopic.php?f=12&p=18111#p18111
my guess is in favor of a reconstituated return to the original etymologie as given by STRABON and PTOLEMEE in their Geographies that King René receives in 1457 and 1459 from his venetian friend Jacopo Antonio Marcello - the same who sent as gifts for his wife Isabelle de Lorraine via Jean COSSA, Sénéchal de Provence, either in his Provence castle of Tarascon or in his wife's castle of Saumur in Anjou, the "proto-tarots" in november 1449...

Etymologie : "Tarouscon, attestée IIe siècle, dans Strabon. Il dérive ensuite en Tarascone (IVe siècle)."
So if I'm right

TAR - OUSCU

Why?
Because King René is a fervant humanist and receives as gifts in 1457 the Geography of Plolemee and in 1459 the Geography of Strabon.
For sure, he would have had at heart to come back to the ancient name of his city.
This could then give : Tar - ous = Tarous / Taraus / Taraux (attested AVIGNON 1505)

Coming back to the Goldsmidt cards ...
Cartes « Goldschmidt »
Italie? Provence?, milieu du xve s.
9 cartes, enseignes italiennes (?)
peinture avec fond d'or étampé parchemin
140x65 mm dos: carmin foncé

King René is described as "parcheminier" " bon peintre" et "enlumineur de chartes" :
https://books.google.fr/books?id=fFIPAA ... ou&f=false


In this case, the stay of dauphin futur king louis xi - figured in the deck as the crowned dauphin - in 1447 would make sense.

in May 1447, Dauphin Louis XI is in Tarascon .
He visits his uncle René d'Anjou married to Isabelle de Lorraine ...

King René is in his Castle of Tarascon during 1447 - 1449.
He gives an important reception for Dauphin Louis XI in 1447 probably May.

"Le château de Tarascon se transforme en un somptueux palais renaissance sous l’impulsion de son fils, le roi René. Au cours de son 1er long séjour à Tarascon de 1447 à 1449, le roi René fait exécuter d’importantes améliorations qui portent le château à son état actuel, c’est de cette époque que datent les ornementations de la cour d’honneur : loggia, niche statues, porches, décoration d’arcade, salle dite "des chantres". Le roi donne des fêtes éblouissantes et la première année, il offre une réception somptueuse à son neveu, le futur roi Louis XI. L’année 1449, apogée du règne de René d’Anjou, marque aussi l’arrêt définitif de la reconstruction du château. "

"Lors de son premier séjour à Tarascon (1447-1449), le dauphin Louis, futur Louis XI, retiré en Dauphiné, rend visite à son oncle, René d'Anjou, roi de Sicile et Comte de Provence en mai 1447 sous prétexte de faire le pèlerinage de Sainte Madeleine à Saint-Maximin et à la Sainte-Baume. Il arrive à Tarascon où son oncle le reçoit avec faste et affection. Il visite l'église Sainte-Marthe comme il se doit et encourage le projet de pratiquer les fouilles de Notre-Dame de la Mer (les Saintes Maries) que son oncle entreprend l'année suivante. Cependant, le Dauphin est venu quérir une alliance auprès de son oncle contre son père le roi de France Charles VII que celui-ci ne peut lui accorder par l'indéfectible amitié et fidélité qui le lie à son compagnon d'enfance. Louis XI devait garder rancune à son oncle de cette visite insatisfaite et stérile"

[quote="Huck"]


************

We know, that Cossa got the commission to transport the deck at 12th of November 1449 in Monselice ...





https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castello_di_Monselice
https://www.google.de/maps/place/Castel ... d11.752773


... and what happened then, we don't know.

Huck

Interesting to see the chess board decoration of the tower :
http://www.castellodimonselice.it/it-IT ... zzeliniana


It is very likely a "restauration" but must have been made upon valuable basis...

Question about the venetian scribe ...

SALVATICIS (Michael de) is said to have been the copist of Francesco Barbara
https://books.google.fr/books?id=9dESCw ... o&f=falseI


Is this Francisco Barbaro?
Francesco Barbaro

https://books.google.fr/books?id=5gQPmC ... ra&f=false

I don't know how to copy the pages but if someone could, thanks in advance

In French, his name means : "Français Barbare" ...

If it is him, then it is surely, not only a politician as Huck mentionned, but an aristotelician humanist aware of Platonism later on connected with Florence and the Medecis

Huck wrote:btw ...

... this seems to have been a picture in Marcello's gift to Renee d'Anjou

The order of the Croissant used the motto "Los en Croissant" (also Loz en Croissant), which I saw interpreted as "growing in Fame" or "croître dans la louange". It appears on the personal order heraldry, here for Jean Cossa.

The elephant presented Fame in the Petrarca interpretation, which became rather popular in the 1440s. Marcello knew that, of course, and likely also Renee d'Anjou.

Very nice find Huck!

BOUGEAREL Alain wrote:
Is this Francisco Barbaro?

https://books.google.fr/books?id=5gQPmC ... ra&f=false

Yes.

I don't know how to copy the pages but if someone could, thanks in advance

Perhaps this one will help you, if you want copy something at your monitor.
https://app.prntscr.com/en/download.html
But there is a lot of material to Barbaro, you cannot copy it all.

In French, his name means : "Français Barbare" ...

If it is him, then it is surely, not only a politician as Huck mentionned, but an aristotelician humanist aware of Platonism later on connected with Florence and the Medecis

He is mainly a politician of a similar rank like Marcello, and Marcello was also a humanist. But Barbaro was also author, and a sort of pope for literature.

I also do not forget and remember that one scholar on two states that Cossa brought himself the decks to Provence...hmmm!
"The idea of the gift {to Isabelle de Lorraine] would have come from Scipine Carafa
who stopped at the Venetian Sforza camp outside Milan on his return from Charles VII 's court.
Marcello, Sforza and Giovanni, the core of the Croissant in Italy, were all three together at this time. Carafa came across a deck of cards during his visit to the camp and told Marcello that this sort of gift was perfect for René's wife; Not satisfied with the deck however, Marcello somehow managed to obtain the Visconti xards from inside the city (Milan). He also have the treatise on "tarot" (sic) by Marziano da Tortona that accompagnied them transcribed by Michele Salvatico, a proeminent Venice based scribe, and, on 12 november 1449, dispathched these to Provence (sic). He sent them by means of the man who happened to be his house guest : non other than King René right hand man, Giovanni Cossa."
http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/people/oren-margolis/

I had contact to the author. He couldn't give additional information.
Which means, that we don't know, what happened after November 12, 1449. We know, that the general situation became chaotic, cause Sforza restarted to attack Milan. It's said, that in Milan 5000 persons died cause of hunger. Sforua took his first entry to Milan 25th of February.

At 12 ottobre 1449: "Grande spettacolo in piazza dell'Arengo per celebrare la pace con Venezia. Due personaggi che rappresentano san Marco e sant'Ambrogio si abbracciano e così fanno tutti gli altri membri delle due repubbliche."
http://www.storiadimilano.it/cron/dal1426al1450.htm
Big festivity in Milan, the people believe in peace between Milan and Venice.

At 9th of December, 1449: Giovanni di Domenico in Florence sells playing cards to the silk dealers. It is his first known activity with them. Between the sold cards are 6 Trionfi decks, the first known Trionfi production note since 1445. Perhaps these decks were made in an expectation of peace. They have the price of 11 Florentine soldi, that is the cheapest price for Trionfi cards till then (the deck of Marchio Burdochi in Ferrara 1442 would have had the value of 20 Soldi in Florence).
Giovanni di Domenico is a long-time playing card producer, starting (likely) around 1446/47. Possibly he's also the first, who imported Trionfi cards to Rome, even earlier than Giovanni da Pistoia, ...
http://trionfi.com/triunfi-playing-cards-rome
... in 1453. Then a person "Johanni de Domenico merciaio" appears in the custom register, and pays taxes "8 para carte cio è treunfi da jocare" for an estimated value of 1,7 ducats. Before the same person already had paid taxes for 3 other imports of cards.
Giovanni di Domenico cooperates also with Filippo di Marco, ...
http://trionfi.com/filippo-di-marco
... who works for Bartolomeo Seragli and produces very expensive Trionfi cards. Bartolomeo Seragli appears also as a taxpayer and importer of playing cards in Rome in the same year 1453.
Beside Giovanni di Domenico, Bartolomeo Seragli and Giovanni da Pistoia there are no other persons active in the import of Trionfi cards to Rome in the years 1452-53
Giovanni di Domenico was father of the famous painter Botticini ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Botticini

Somehow the condition, that we find in two distant cities twice the same name active with Trionfi cards, possibly indicates, that the number of persons active in the Trionfi card business were still small then.

Huck wrote:

I also do not forget and remember that one scholar on two states that Cossa brought himself the decks to Provence...hmmm!
on 12 november 1449, dispathched these to Provence (sic). He sent them by means of the man who happened to be his house guest : non other than King René right hand man, Giovanni Cossa."
http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/people/oren-margolis/

Huck wrote :
I had contact to the author. He couldn't give additional information.
Which means, that we don't know, what happened after November 12, 1449.
[...]


HI Huck

Thanks for these precisions.

If you have contact with the author, could we at least know from where did he take the information that the decks were dispatched via Cossa to PROVENCE and not to Anjou?

BOUGEAREL Alain wrote: If you have contact with the author, could we at least know from where did he take the information that the decks were dispatched via Cossa to PROVENCE and not to Anjou?

I asked for this:
"The idea of the gift {to Isabelle de Lorraine] would have come from Scipine Carafa
who stopped at the Venetian Sforza camp outside Milan on his return from Charles VII 's court.
Marcello, Sforza and Giovanni, the core of the Croissant in Italy, were all three together at this time."

I'd explained the situation, and asked, when all three were together, possibly also Scipio.

I got ...
"I also mention the three men in the camp on p. 53, and discuss some other aspects of their relationship in that first chapter which might be of interest to you. But the other place you should look is Margaret King's book, The Death of the Child Valerio Marcello (1994), where she reconstructs many aspects of the chronology of Marcello's career and the careers of his friends."

I don't have page 53 and I don't have the introduction. And I doubt, that he knows the date, when Scipio Caraffa was in the camp.
The book of Margaret L. King ...
https://books.google.de/books?id=RdWeII ... io&f=false