Re: Germini / Minchiate

11
Independent of the Dummett/McLeod observation of 1725 one can state, that in 1507 three "strange accidents" run together.

1. Four moors
2. a 19-person demonstration of a Florentian Caritas figure inside carnival, which has No. 19 in Minchiate
3. An event very near to the "objective relevant" political change in Bologna 1506

Three "strange accidents" at one spot are a little much ... at least one should ask for possibilities, that might explain this condition as a "normal action". For instance the possibility exists, that the activity of 1725 (changing papi to moors) might have been a reminiscence to something, which already happened earlier ... perhaps already in 1507 papi might have been changed to moors for a short time, so that Bolognese card maker turned "not recorded" back to the earlier solution in 1725
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Germini / Minchiate

12
Very early, Giotto
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Raphael
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unknown
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The Minchiate Caritas seems to have a flame in her hand, perhaps indicating the following sign and card "Fire".

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The Mantegna Tarocchi uses the open-purse-motif with pelican, most common seem to be Caritas motifs children and I couldn't find any caritas-with-flame in other pictures, so the Minchiate-variant might be actually rare.

What does the flame mean?
Prometheus brought the fire, but the goddess of the house-fire was Hestia. Or Vesta in Roman expression. The house-wife is the cook of the family, very logical. And so she was "caring" like Caritas for all the hungry stomaches around her.

At the next card we meet the element fire ... in the Minchiate in this fire, which looks like a zoomed picture of the fire in Caritas' hand, we detect an animal:

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Savonarola was burnt in this city. The Savonarolian movement still existed after his death. In the background he wasn't forgotten till the 1520's and 30s.

In Florentian dimensions the distance from Caritas/Dovizia to the "burning animal" are about 350 meters.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 8&t=h&z=18

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Last edited by Huck on 12 Dec 2009, 13:02, edited 1 time in total.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Germini / Minchiate

13
It's difficult to recognize the precise relations, which Florence and Bologna had at carnival 1507.

Pope Julius returned from Bologna this month (February 1507) and had commissioned to build a castle there, by which he wished to control the Bolognese people. The Bolognese didn't like it and the castle was destroyed at next opportunity, which was in May 1511 ("again destroyed", a castle at this place was destroyed variously before by the Bolognese people, and they never stood a long time).

The castle was big (137 x 274 meters), the remaining fragments are small.

The political climate at this time (1507) is moved by the great global players (Spain, France, Venice, Maximilian, the Pope), Florence had become not important after the fall of the Medici. Generally the Florence-Bologna relations had been friendly and partly "very good" during 15th century, but it's difficult to decipher, if this still was the case in 1506-07 ... and if the Florentine were happy, that the Bentivoglio were overcome, or sad. Or had mixed feelings.

It seems probable, that the Florentian kept themselves to the side of France. It seems, that Florence had an alliance with Julian in 1506.

Generally ... if the French came up with a change in the game around 1505 and a new wave of popularization, it might be possible, that the Florentine followed directly with a new development in their game.

The source says, that the text was written by Pietro Rucellai, probably Pietro di Bernardo Rucellai.
The platonic academy developed to the group of the Rucellai garden after Lorenzo's death. The text notes, that the text has survived as

"canzonna della dovizia di frutti", it is in C. Singleton, "Canti carascialeschi del rinascimento", Bari 1936
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Germini / Minchiate

14
Bernardo Rucellai and the Orti Oricellari: A Study on the Origin of Modern Political Thought
Felix Gilbert
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 12, (1949), pp. 101-131
Published by: The Warburg Institute
http://www.jstor.org/stable/750259

The article is of interest regarding Bernardo Rucellai, Florentine banker, who - probably - participated as friend of Lorenzo Medici's youth and later brother-in-law at Lorenzo Medici's escapades, to which belonged - Trionfi.com hypothesis - the production of a Trionfi deck called "Charles VI" in 1463. The special focus of the article is at the later time, after Lorenzo's death in 1492.

The Rucellai garden, located at an edge of the city of Florence near the river, became a meeting for Florentian intellectuals ... it generally is regarded as a prolongation of the platonic academy of Florence and with that it might be the most probable place, where the game of Minchiate found to a form.

Bernardo Rucellai took opposition to the Savonarolian movement in 1495, after a Naples journey.
He opposed also the following Soderini reign, spending much time outside of Florence (1506-1511).
He worked for a reinstallment of the Medici.
When the Medici came back after 1412, he was not satisfied with the new young rulers.

1506 he spend the summer in Avignon, the place, where 1505 the first production of French Tarots is recorded.
After this he went to Milan, Bologna, Venice.

The article claims, that the activities in the Rucellai garden, which are mainly seen to have happened in the second decade of 15th century, already had an earlier phase in 1502-1506, when Rucellai had started the major work of his late life "De Bello Italico" - the story, what happened after Charles VIII came to Italy. In his last will Rucellai ordered, that the text should be buried with him, but ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=W2IVAA ... navlinks_s

... has 60 pages only .. (?) ... so possibly not complete.
some wiki wrote:Rucellai family

While prominent in communal government and wealthy as cloth manufacturers from the late 13th century, the Rucellai did not play a part of real importance in Florentine politics, preferring, especially in the 15th century, to devote increasing time to study and the cultivated pleasures of private life. Giovanni (1403-81) built the Rucellai Palace from 1446. This was from a design by Alberti, as was another of Giovanni's commissions, the marble façade of S. Maria Novella. He was also a more perceptive patron of artists than either Cosimo or Lorenzo de' Medici. His Zibaldone (commonplace book) gives valuable insight into the reading and manner of life of the lettered merchants of the Quattrocento.
His son Bernardo (1448-1514), a trusted supporter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, wrote a history of Charles VIII's invasion of 1494-95, De bello italico, which makes precocious use of the term 'balance of power', and his grandson Giovanni (1475-1525), who entered the Church, has some reputation as a literary pioneer; he wrote free imitations of classical poems in the vernacular and one of the earliest classicizing tragedies, Rosamunda. It was Bernardo who laid out the gardens off the Via della Scala which became known as the Orti Oricellari (Rucellai Gardens). After his death his grandson Cosimo acted as host to discussions held there on philosophical, literary and political topics. Machiavelli took part in these and his Discourses were dedicated to Cosimo and to another habitué of the Orti, Zanobi Buondelmonti. Machiavelli set his dialogues in 'The art of war' there, with Cosimo as one of the protagonists.


Entry to Rucellai's garden



Palazzo Venturi Ginori ... Rucellai's garden Palazzo, had been build 1498.



http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Firenze,+ ... 8&t=h&z=18

The intelectuals at Rucellai garden were a mix of Savonarolians and a progressive party, with some critical distance to Soderini, who between 1502-1513 presented the "chosen establishment" and had been "gonfaloniere for life".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_Soderini

In 1513 some members of the Rucellai garden community became arrested cause rebellion, but soon Soderini had to give way and the Medici returned by a not bloody revolt. Soderini had to leave to an honored exile. Soderini's political tendencies are summarized as "pro-French".

*********

The major point about Bernardo ...
... if really the youth scene around Lorenzo made the "Minchiate of 1466" (which might quite well had been very different from the later version) and the Charles VI deck of 1463, then Bernardo and his circle with 4 Bernardo sons should stand in first row of the "possible authors of the later Minchiate". Pietro di Bernardo Rucellai (author of the Dovizia carnival's song 1507) is given as a son, who died early.

The article explains also something about the Rucellai heraldic, the ship with sails, which looks like a Moon ... compare ...

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=365&start=121

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From the text of the mentioned article:

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The debate about Fortune and Virtues ... that's somehow similar to Tarot. And especially also for the Minchiate, where 7 virtues are presented.
A specific difference between Tarot and Minchiate might be of interest. The triumphal chariot is commonly ranked in Tarot as number 10, but in Minchiate it is ranked Nr. 9, below the triumphal chariot. So the Minchiate promises victory about destiny (or luck) with help of the virtues spes, prudentia, fides, caritas (trumps 16-19 in Minchiate), but luck reigns about temperance, Fortitudo and Justice (6-8).
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Germini / Minchiate

15
Huck wrote:
XVIIII reigns about trumps 40-32
XVIII reigns about trumps 31-22
XVII reigns about trumps 10-15 and 20-22
XVI reigns about trumps 1-9
Hi, Huck. This Thread is incredibly interesting to me! (aka the minchi man...)

But does XVII and XVIII both rule about the number 22? Is this a typo?

Re: Germini / Minchiate

16
hi Reece,

of course, a typo.

XVIIII reigns about trumps 32-40
XVIII reigns about trumps 23-32
XVII reigns about trumps 10-15 and 20-22
XVI reigns about trumps 1-9

... is correct. The poem considers, that each of the 4 virtues XVI-XIX (regarded as mother prostitutes) reigns precisely about 9 other prostitutes ... this is arranged in a straight form, just following the numbers 1-40, leaving 16-19 aside. The identification of trumps in the usual deck and presented trumps in the poem is only partly evident.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Germini / Minchiate

19
Reece wrote:I don't know how pertinent this is for this discussion as I don't read Italian, but I ran across this Web Site:

http://germini.altervista.org/
The game with the Minchiate cards ... as far the rules are known ... can be rather complicated. There are rules in German language known from late 18th century, possibly the oldest surviving version. The writer of the rules is a little confusing, it's not easy to get an impression, what this all is about.
Huck
http://trionfi.com

Re: Germini / Minchiate

20
It might be worth noting here that the four elements in the minchiate may have a specific alchemical connection. The 'burning animal' that represents fire mentioned by Huck in an earlier post is the same as the one in the background of the alchemical engraving below.

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From Minchiate Fiorentine Etruria.

The thread explaining the image can be found at: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=438&hilit=antimony&start=10

Pen
He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy...
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