Le Tarot cultural association News 2017

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Andrea VITALI has written recently new essays in Italian not yet translated in Enghish :
http://letarot.it/news.aspx?id=4


14/10/2017 La Tarocchiera
A 'delight' where to play tarot
14/10/2017 On a blind priest who was playing tarot
And famous doctors who loved that game
21/09/2017 Nihil in hoc mundo mutat - 1589
Nobles go crazy in triumph as in the tarot game
19/09/2017 Against the tarot
Invectives and abandonments
11/09/2017 Commedia Nuova - 1545
Cupid, traitor, hanging for a foot
30/08/2017 Tarocchino in rhymes, satires and in a holy life
In winter at the fire a tarot game
30/08/2017 Crimes and Tarots - XVI century
Tarocchini in the Criminal Archive of Bologna
25/08/2017 Tarot means Fool
Literary documents from our essays
23/08/2017 Grotesque Tarot - 1587
Tarot in the "De' Grotteschi" by Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo
14/08/2017 On Tuscany Eloquence
Those who play tarot do not deserve laurels
11/08/2017 De viribus quantitatis
Triumphs in a Mathematical guess by Luca Pacioli
03/08/2017 Taroccare in the eighteenth century opera booklets
Playful dramas, intermezzi, comedies, dramatic actions and farces
03/08/2017 Taroccare in the nineteenth century opera booklets
Playful, heroic-comic, semi-serious and funny dramas, melodramas, comedies and farces
13/07/2017 Sigismondo Malatesta and the Triumphs
A golden world
21/06/2017 Tarots witnesses of a conspiracy
In defense of Pallavicini Visconti, Bishop of Alexandria
20/06/2017 Tarots in exhibition at Milan in 1872
The Visconti di Modrone and Brambilla tarocchi, as well as a sonnet on the Bagatto
29/05/2017 A sonnet in Modena's dialect of the XVI century
In ancient times the good boys did not play tarot
21/05/2017 Devils like tarots and other stories
Tarot on pages of literature from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century
16/05/2017 Slut Fortune: Fortune from Dante to Cellini
In addition to a rhyme on the Wheel of Fortune in the seventeenth-century Milanese dialect
05/05/2017 Like the 'Fool in the Tarot' of Carducci
or Italy that does not wake up
02/05/2017 Tarots must stand outside the monasteries !
Tarots must stand outside the monasteries! When the nuns were playing cards all their possessions
02/04/2017 Pleasant Dialogues - 1539
Nicolò Franco, Aretino enemy and friend of himself
02/02/2017 Triompho of the nobles women of Cesena
Together with a love poem with tarot. From Vatican Apostolic Library
http://www.sgdl-auteurs.org/alain-bouge ... Biographie

Re: Le Tarot cultural association News November 2017

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C avec un plaisir non dissimulé que j apprends du Professeur Andrea VITALI la nomination de Stephen Mangan comme membre de notre association culturelle internationale Le Tarot.
Bienvenu Stephen.
A mon sens c un des chercheurs en iconographie et histoire des tarots et des cartes les plus pertinents de nos jours. J ai pu à plusieurs occasions échanger avec lui et le moins que je puisse dire , c'est qu il s agit là non seulement d 'un chercheur talentueux mais d'un "trouveur' - qualité rarissime !
http://www.sgdl-auteurs.org/alain-bouge ... Biographie

Re: Le Tarot cultural association News 2017

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The essay "Sigismondo Malatesta and Triumphs" is now available in English, at http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=674&lng=ENG

I do not know how many of these newer essays will be translated, as it is a lot of work translating the old Italian, with much consultation involved between the two of us. Plus, there are little details of connotation that drive me slightly crazy. For example, in the title above, it could have been "the Triumphs" instead of "Triumphs", referring to the particular decks made for Malatesta. And "dorato" can be translated either as "gilded" or as "golden", with slightly different connotations. "Gilded" implies real gold, but also a world of luxury for a few and poverty for many. "Golden" is more general and does not necessarilyimply real gold These connotations are not in the Italian. I explained the different connotations and said I preferred "gilded"; Andrea adopted my suggestion, but I am not sure what he originally intended.

Otherwise, the translation is notable, I think, for providing the first full English translation of the letter from Cicco and Francesco to Cremona of Nov. 1452--at least, it is the first I could find that did more than translate parts of it. This required several emails between us, as I have no expertise whatever in 15th century Italian, although I do know English pretty well, at least American English.

Here is the original:
«Perchè el Mag[nifi]co Sig[no]re Sigismondo [Malatesta] ha rechesto ad la Ill[ustrissi]ma Madonna Bianca nostra consorte uno paro de carte da triumpho per zugare, ti commettimo et volemo che subito ne debij fare fare uno paro de belle quanto più sarà possibile pincte et ornate con le arme ducali et al insigne nostre et mandaraile subito como serano facte. Apud Calvisanum XXVIIJ octobris 1452.

Non obstante quello dicemo de sopra de mandarne qui le dicte carte volevo le ritegne lì, et ne avisi como serano facte et similmente retegni tre berrette quali te mandarà Mattheo da Pesaro. Dat utsupra.

Irius.
Cichus.»
And the translation:
"Because the Magnificent Lord Sigismondo [Malatesta] has requested of the Illustrious Lady Bianca our consort a pack of triumph playing cards, we commission you and require the obligation of quickly having made a pack painted of as much beauty as possible and ornamented with the ducal insignia and our own, to be sent as soon as they are made. Apud Calvisanum (At Calvisano) XXVIII octobris 1452

Notwithstanding that we say above to send said cards here, I want you to hold them there, and advise me when they are done, and similarly hold three hats that Matteo will send you from Pesaro. Dat utsupra. (Date as above.)

Irius. (a nickname of Cichus’s?)
Cichus")
Our main uncertainty was about "Irius". That it might have been a nickname is Andrea's suggestion. Any input anybody has regarding this or other aspect of the translation will be welcome.

You will notice that there is no reference to "dorato" in that letter. That is Andrea's interpretation of what is meant by "uno paro più sarà possibile pincte", "a pack painted with as much beauty as possible". Or alternatively, better English but less literal, I think, "painted as beautifully as possible". I wanted to emphasize that it was the beauty of the pack that Malatesta was interested in, as opposed to the act of painting it. Assuming gold backgrounds are the most beautiful, "dorato" is what he most likely wants. That is because, given the two previous decks known, the Cary-Yale and Brera-Brambilla, were done in that style, probably the Bembo workshop in Cremona was well known for that style. It is known that Malatesta had requested that they be done in Cremona, "quelle carte de triumphi che se fanno a Cremona", those triumph cards that are made in Cremona", as Bianca Maria relayed his request to Francesco, the wording reported by Winifred Terni di by Gregory in 1958 (Pittura Artigiana del Rinascimento, Milan 1958 p. 32, according to Dummett in his 2007 article on the six added cards).

This brings up the question of what backgrounds the PMB had. I have always assumed they were brown and red, brown because that is what we see, red because there are traces of red paint on the brown. But I would not have imagined all-red backgrounds; that would be garish. Could the backgrounds originally have been gold? I have assumed not, because other gold-painted areas remained gold. But perhaps gilding, as opposed to imitation gold, does not remain gold but turns red or brown. I do not know. This issue is not necessarily relevant to what kind of deck Malatesta had in mind, because he wouldn't have known that deck, not having visited plague-infested Milan, or Cremona with its strict quarantine procedure, before the PMB was made.

You wil notice that Andrea says at the beginning of the essay that it is necessary to consider that the packs utilized were (occorre valutare che essi utilizzarono erano) of 14 triumphs and 56 number and court cards. It seems to me that while it is worth considering that decks at that time, including Cremona/Milan, might have had that composition, I see no reason to consider that that they wereso. We simply don't know. But Andrea prefers the stronger wording.

Added Dec. 6, 2017: thanks to Ross and Steve in posts below, it is known that "Irius" refers to Irio da Vengono, Chancellor of the duke of Milan from 1452.
Last edited by mikeh on 07 Dec 2017, 03:12, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Le Tarot cultural association News 2017

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Thank you for reminding us of Andrea's page and your translation(s), Mike. Always stimulating.

For "Irius", it is certainly someone else, like those of Bonifacius, Ser Iacobus, Zanetus, etc. that frequently occur with Cicco's name under his letters. See the letters transcribed from this archive, for instance - https://www.yumpu.com/it/document/view/ ... enze-e-/55

"Irius" occurs about a dozen times as a signatory, and once as "Ser Irius" (letter 517). Use the search function (the magnifying glass). I can find no explanation of who he is, though.

Just as "Cicco" is a familiar form - diminutive - of Francesco, I suppose that "Irio" could be a familiar form of some name, perhaps Tiberio.

I did find the name "Irio da Venegono'" as Francesco Sforza's cancelliere in two texts Google finds.
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Re: Le Tarot cultural association News 2017

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Thank you for your many and continuing translations Mike !

I agree that seems a rather over emphatic statement to start with, re: 14 trumps!?

Irius also is suffixed some 385 times to the followng archive of letters, on his own, with Ciccus or a Iohannes:

http://www.istitutolombardo.it/pdf/07missive.pdf

Not that it particularly matters, but the letter as it is transcribed there is only signed by Irius, not Cichus?

The letter is number 1475:

FRANCESCO SFORZA ORDINA AD ANTONIO DA TREZZO DI FAR FARE , PER RICHIESTA
FATTA DA SIGISMONDO (MALATESTA) A BIANCA MARIA, UN PAIO DI CARTE DA GIOCO
MOLTO BELLE “PINCTE ET ORDINATE CUM LE ARME DUCALE “. LE TRATTENGA PRESSO DI
SÈ, DEL PARI COME TRATTERRÀ TRE BERRETTE INVIATEGLI DA MATTEO DA PESARO.
1452 ottobre 28, “apud Calvisanum”.

348v Antonio Trecco.

Perché el magnifico signore Sigismondo ha rechesto ad la illustrissima madonna
Bianca, nostra consorte, uno paro de carte da triumpho per zugare, ti commettimo et
volemo che subito ne debii fare fare uno paro de belle quanto più serrà possibile, pincte
et ordinate cum le arme ducale et a l’insegne nostre et mandaraile subito como seranno
facte.

Apud Calvisanum, xxviii octobris 1452.

Nonobstante quello dicemo di sopra de mandarne qui le dicte carte, volemo le retegne
lì et ne avisi come serrano facte. et similmente retegni tre berrette quale te mandarà
Mattheo da Pesaro.
Data ut supra.
Irius.

Re: Le Tarot cultural association News 2017

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Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote: 05 Dec 2017, 15:17 I did find the name "Irio da Venegono'" as Francesco Sforza's cancelliere in two texts Google finds.
'Irio di Cristoforo da Venegono di Milano' became Chancellor in 1452 -

There is a letter from 'Iri de Venegono to Cicco, 12th Sep 1469, Milan' referenced in "A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galleazzo Maria Sforza"
By Gregory Lubkin, n91, p340

I think note 91 is to a passage on p171, but that won't load for me either because it is unavailable or I have reached my limit:

https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=NU ... C&pg=PA171
Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote: 05 Dec 2017, 21:03 Can you find out who it is from that collection, Steve?
No, there is just the signature - but I think you probably have it with the chancellor Irio da Venegono? Irio latinized as Irius?

He is also at a much later date listed as among the company of the notaries and justices sent to Sforza's ambassador in Naples re: the arrangements of the marriage of Ippolita Sforza:

"Il gruppo fondamentale era costituito dai notai e giudici: Candido Porri causidicus et notarius publicus, Iri da Venegono, bonifacio Aliprando, cancelliere segreto, e Nicola Pizono, ufficiale ducale di Pavia, tutti iudices ad contractus et notarii imperiali ac regia auctoritate; l’istruzione generale e quelle particolari specificavano che Candido Porro e Iri da Venegono avevanola responsabilità di rogare «tuti li instrumenti cossì de la dote de la illustrissima hipolita Maria, nostra figliola et de domina elionora con Sforza et de Drusiana con el conte Jacomo"
Last edited by SteveM on 05 Dec 2017, 22:51, edited 4 times in total.

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SteveM wrote: 05 Dec 2017, 21:07
No, there is just the signature - but I think you probably have it with the chancellor Irio da Venegono? Irio latinized as Ireus?
Only a snippet I'm afraid, but enough to verify the latinized Irius for Irio:

"Irio da Venegono cancelliere di Francesco Sforza. È personaggio che figura sovente nei carteggi sforzeschi del ricchissimo Archivio di Stato di Milano, ma quasi sconosciuto ai buoni Varesini. « Irius de Venegono fil. domini Christofori » figura cancelliere del duca di Milano fin dal 1452; era anche notaio imperiale ed aveva un fratello per nome Antonio. Nel 1463, e molti anni dopo ancora, abitava a Milano in Porta Nuova, nella parrocchia di S. Bartolomeo dentro (s), ed ai 2 settembre ---"

Irio da Venegono = Irius de Venegono

Irio da Venegono chancellor of Francesco Sforza. He is a person who often appears in the Sforza correspondence in the very rich State Archives of Milan, but almost unknown to the good Varesini. Irius de Venegono fil. domini Christofori figured as chancellor of the Duke of Milan from 1452; he was also an imperial notary and had a brother by the name of Antonio. In 1463, and many years later, he lived in Milan in Porta Nuova, in the parish of S. Bartolomeo --- [end of snippet view]

Periodico, Volume 15
Società storica comense (Italy)
Società storica comense, 1903 - Como (Italy)
Last edited by SteveM on 05 Dec 2017, 22:26, edited 3 times in total.

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SteveM wrote: 05 Dec 2017, 21:07
Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote: 05 Dec 2017, 15:17 I did find the name "Irio da Venegono'" as Francesco Sforza's cancelliere in two texts Google finds.
'Irio di Cristoforo da Venegono di Milano' became Chancellor in 1452 -

There is a letter from 'Iri de Venegono to Cicco, 12th Sep 1469, Milan' referenced in "A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galleazzo Maria Sforza"
By Gregory Lubkin, n91, p340

I think note 91 is to a passage on p171, but that won't load for me either because it is unavailable or I have reached my limit:

https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=NU ... C&pg=PA171
Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote: 05 Dec 2017, 21:03 Can you find out who it is from that collection, Steve?
Great! I think we have it, then.

Cicco = Cichus
Irio = Irius

It looks like it might be a real name then, Irio might mean Iris, the flower. I worked under the assumption that it was a nickname, like Cicco.

I can't get that page either. I have parts of Lubkin copied, don't know if I have that page. I'll check tomorrow.
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