There is now another 16th century tarocchi appropriati that SteveM found and identified as such (given that the author does not) in a recent book in English (published May 2016). See viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1104#p17004. Many, but not all, of the trumps are identified by name, but enough to show that it is in the B order. It is c. 1520s, making it perhaps the earliest known work of this type specifically from Venice.

I have been in touch with Linda Carrol, who was able to provide me with the original Italian for the descriptions of the Ladies missing in the book. All trumps are listed by name, in B-Eastern order as one would expect for Venice. I have passed this information on to Ross and introduced him to Linda to carry on, as I felt he was more qualified to evaluate and get this new discovery 'out there' than I. Hopefully we shall all be updated as soon as he is able.

I stumbled about this ...

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=552&p=7877&hilit=notturno#p7877
mmfilesi in 2010:

2. 1521, Perugia: Notturno Napoletano. Gioco de triomphi ingenioso che fanno quattro compagni detti Delio Timbreo Castalio e Caballino con due sonetti in laude del Bembo composto per Notturno.

I cant find it.

I answered this:

That's a comedy written 1521. Franco Pratesi reported about it in the I.P.S.C journal more than 20 years ago. The text is called "rare", I don't know it.

For which reason ever, the list of trumps in the comedy is not complete (according Franco) ... either this was made artfully by the author or the author didn't knew any more trumps.
If I understand it correctly:

* Bagatella
* Matto, which is higher than "Imperator, Pope and Cardinal"
* Imperator
* Papa

* Fortezza
* Temperanza
* Giustizia
* Carro

* Rota
* Vecchio

That's it. The comedy proceeds 30 pages longer with mentioning further names, as Franco tells it. The "game comes from Spain" ... so it is said (not by Franco). Other cards (for instance "smaller arcana") are not mentioned. The "cardinal" stays not explained.

My idea of it ... possibly it's a part of the comedy, that the cards are of Spain and not complete (as "comical elements"). Franco's report is 20 years ago, the perception of Tarot was then different from nowadays. Or another way to interpret: It really was a Spanish game and it was attempted to play (or to "translate") it with Italian cards.
Or the whole has political background, which somehow related to "Spain" (= new Roman king Charles V.), in 1521 an interesting topic.

Any further understanding demands a new reading. Franco's source ...

"... a scarce booklet which existed in the 18th century in Capponi's library and whose reported title already indicates its interest for the history of tarot: Notturno Napolitano Gioco de trionfi, che fanno quattro compagni, detti Delio, Timbreo, Castalio, e Caballino, con due sonetti in laude del Bembo. Perugia per Cosmo da Verona detto il Bianchino s.a.(#). Therefore, it did not escape attention by the few Italian scholars who seriously attempted to collect and discuss the literary evidence about the game (#). Both Cian and Renier, however, could not examine a copy of the book, due to its rarity, and only mentioned the title as derived from the Capponi catalogue. Also in the known work by Sander (#) the booklet is only mentioned, under Caracciolo Antonio, among others by same author and printer, with the statement that any presence there of engravings was still unknown. Nowadays, more catalogues exist, and bibliographical researches are easier to carry out to the required depth. In this case, a copy of the book was found to exist in the British Library, where from a microfilm copy was obtained for study."

For your interest to have an object to compare with other rows it doesn't seem appropriate. It simply isn't clear, what this is about.

[/quote]

In the meantime Franco Pratesi published this rather old article at Trionfi.com:
http://trionfi.com/notturno-gioco-triophi
... and added a new one to this topic:
http://trionfi.com/notturno-tarocchi
... which mainly presented a part of the original.

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

This thread begin was an excellent work of Marcos Mendez Filesi, who already is inactive for some longer time. Maybe somebody else could open a thread like "OVERVIEW: The order of the trumps (II)" and work on an update of this collection, keeping the first post as a place, that he occasionally updates, if a new document appears.

mikeh wrote:There is now another 16th century tarocchi appropriati that SteveM found and identified as such (given that the author does not) in a recent book in English (published May 2016). See viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1104#p17004. Many, but not all, of the trumps are identified by name, but enough to show that it is in the B order. It is c. 1520s, making it perhaps the earliest known work of this type specifically from Venice.

Having been in touch with Linda Carroll I can confirm the list is complete:

“Ciasuna in capo havea varie corone / si come in uso fu nel tempo antico / d’imperatorj ala trionfal stagione.”

“Di Dandoli Cecilia asay benigna / veniva secondo lordine triomphale / portando seco la superba insegna.”

The ladies in their triumphal procession carry their crowns with the insignia of:

Mondo: Isabeta Diedo*
Giustitia: Paola Venier
Angelo: Isabetta Barbarigo
Sole: Cecilia Dandolo
Luna: Andriana Pesaro
Stella: Lucretia Venier
Foco: Elena Zane
Diavolo: Maria Caravello
Morte: little Quirini
Traditore: Marieta Capello
Tempo: Lucieta Soranza
Rota: Marina Emo
Forteza: Fontana di Barozi
Amore: Bianca Grimani
Caro Triompha;: Laureta Foscari
Temperantia: Maria Lion
Papa: Maria da Leze
Imperator: Isabeta Venier
Papessa: Marieta Bibbiena
Imperatrice: Hieronima Venier
Bagatela: Helena Zen
Mato: Laura Cocho

In the poem the Ladies come ashore by boat and in a triumphal procession, like those of the emperors of antiquity, surround the sleeping poet, each having their superb insignia upon their crowns. The poem is in Canonici Ital.36 in the Bodleian, fol. 49-53. Most folio's in the collection are dated 1520, but this is the date the collection was begun and not necessarily that in which the copyist made entries. The copyist is though to be Stefano Magno. I have passed what further information I have on to Ross and introduced him to Linda.

Some of these Venetian Ladies also appear in the Tarocchi Appropriati of the Troilo Pomeran. Triomphi de Pomeran da Cittadela composti sopra li terrocchi in laude delle famose gentil donne di Vinegia. 1534.

Andrea Vitali has just posted a new historical essay, transcribing a tarocchi appropriati of 21 eight-line stanzas which he has not seen elsewhere, found by a Vatican librarian. All the stanzas are apparently dedicated to the same lady, and each stanza has a title. They are in order from Mondo to Matto but missing the Popess:
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=961. Andrea says that the style and writing puts it in the 16th century.

Here is the order, from Andrea's list:

Mondo, Angelo, Sole, Luna, Stella, Sagieta, Demonio, Morte, Traditor, Vecchio, Rota, Iusticia, Forza, Temperanza, Carro, Amor, Papa, Imperatore, Imperatrice, Bagatin, Matto.

As to its origin, Andrea says:

L’ordine delle ottave evidenzia un’origine bolognese data la presenza delle tre virtù dopo il Carro, con alcune varianti: innanzitutto il Mondo sovrasta l’Angelo che solitamente risulta il Trionfo più elevato, mentre manca l’ottava riguardante la Papessa.

The order of the octaves highlights a Bolognese origin, given the presence of the three virtues after the Chariot, with some variations: first of all, the World dominates the Angel which is usually the highest Triumph, while the octave concerning the Popess is missing.

In relation to Bologna, he says that an appropriati to the ladies of Cesena, dated by the Vatican Library to the 16th century, also omits a stanza for the Popess. Cesena is the last city on the road from Bologna to Rimini.

A difficulty, it seems to me, is that the Popess is also missing from the c. 1500 Strambotto, presumably Florentine. And as Andrea points out, the poet may simply have chosen to leave out that card. Croce in 1602, in an appropriati clearly in Bologna, left out both Pope and Popess (see on Croce's list my post at viewtopic.php?p=23009#p23009.

Another difficulty is that the order of the virtues in this new appropriati is that invariably reported in Florence, with Justice high, Fortitude middle, and Temperance low, whereas that of Bologna has Fortitude high and Justice middle. We might recall here that the Rosenwald has Fortitude and Justice with precisely the same number, although the order on the page suggests Fortitude high. Since the Rosenwald was found with pages traceable to Perugia, c. 1505, it seems to me that the appropriati might also be from some locality other than the main ones.

It might be possible to locate the appropriati's origin by the terms used, which sometimes vary from the standard. Instead of the usual "Sagitta" or "Saetta" for the Tower card, we see "Sagieta." In the stanza itself the spelling is "Saetta," typical for Bologna and Florence but not Ferrara. We have "Demonio" as the title of the Devil stanza, but "Diavolo" in the stanza itself; neither is helpful in locating the place. The "Vecchio" (Old Man) is "Tempo" in the stanza, a practice seen in Bologna but also elsewhere. "Rota" is "Ruota" in the stanza, neither of much help. Instead of "Fortezza" we have "Forza," as is usual in Bologna for that subject. The other virtues are "Iusticia" and "Temperanza," not the usual names in Bologna, but they do occur. Finally, "Bagattin" is typical of Bologna but is also seen in Ferrara. In the stanza itself, the poet has the verb "bagatelar," suggesting a familiarity with the Ferrarese "bagatella."

Andrea's view, commenting on the possible absence of the Popess from the deck, is that both the composition of the deck and the order of triumphs not only varied from city to city, but even within one city.

I mazzi di questo gioco, infatti, oltre a presentare ordini diversi, potevano differire fra loro, dipendendo sia dalla città in cui veniva utilizzato ma anche da zone della stessa città in cui vigeva un’abitudine diversa.

In fact, the decks of this game, in addition to presenting different orders, could differ from one another, depending both on the city in which it was used and also on the areas of the same city where a different habit was in force.

Why not? We see several small variations from the Ferrara area, where there is the most data. It also could vary over time, of course. In Bologna we see less variability. The only ones I know of are the position of the Chariot (in Croce above the virtues, and even after Rota at some point, given that 11 of the 12 cards of the BAR sheets are after Rota, so likely the Chariot as well, being on that sheet) and whether the "papi" constituted a hierarchy or were all equal. But in Bologna there is less 16th-century data. Perhaps others can add something.

Thanks for bringing Vitali's essay to our attention! It's an interesting discovery.

The Vatican catalog record is here, including an image of the first page:
https://opac.vatlib.it/stp/detail/10103911

I don't find it very believable that the author would have left out the Popess while keeping the Pope. There is nothing to suggest that any other trump is missing, and Vitali's suggested explanations for this one being possibly left out aren't persuasive (namely, the Popess was not compatible with the poet's sentiments, or simply that the publisher didn't have enough space to include it on the pages). As you noted, Croce left out both, most likely because they were not consistent with his audience's ideas of propriety, but if an author was going to leave out the Popess for that reason, he would probably have left out the Pope too, as Croce did. Most people in early modern Italy seem to have regarded the Pope's presence in the deck as almost or equally as scandalous as that of the Popess, as evidenced by the remarks in the Steele sermon, the elimination of both in the 16th century from the Minchiate deck and apparently also the Roman deck, and the later elimination of the two Popes in Bologna.

So I think we can assume that this was yet another deck from which the Popess had been removed without replacement, reducing the total number of ranked trumps to 20, as in Florence and Cesena.

Another difficulty with Vitali's attempt to connect the work to Bologna (in addition to those you mentioned) is the fact that the Bolognese order at this time probably did not have the three virtues ranking above the Chariot. Our evidence for the Bolognese order in the 16th century is the Croce poem of 1602 and the BAR sheets: Croce has the Chariot directly below the Wheel, and as you have noted, the BAR sheets suggest that it was in the top twelve (i.e., trumps 10 to 21), which is entirely consistent with Croce's ranking. So the three virtues appear to have ranked below the Chariot in Bologna at this time.

Even if the Bolognese order had the Chariot in its later position, however, it would still be very unlikely for the work to be from Bologna, because its trump order simply diverges too much from either of these two Bolognese orders.

It also diverges too much from the order in the Cesena poem for it to be credibly attributed to that city either—despite its trump order being a mix of the Florentine Type A order and the Type B order, which calls to mind Cesena's mix of a Type A order without the Popess (as in Florence) but with Justice promoted to a much higher position than usual (akin to its promotion in Type B). But in the current case, the influence from Type B is arguably stronger: World is here the highest trump, and Chariot and Love are in the same positions as in the Steele sermon.

The names used are certainly very close to those used in Cesena and (slightly more so) Bologna—the only difference that is at all significant is Sagieta, easily explained as a local variation of the more common Saetta, and not surprising considering that Sagitta appears in the Steele sermon, probably written in the nearby region of Ferrara.

So while the work is probably not from either Cesena or Bologna, it is most likely to be from somewhere near those two cities, geographically between the main Type B region to the north, and Florence to the southwest. The obvious candidates are the three towns between Bologna and Cesena: Imola, Forlì, and Faenza.

The poem appears to be yet another little piece of evidence that many towns in 16th century Italy had their own particular trump order—at least in those regions where the card market was not dominated by some major cardmaking center that produced tarot decks with numbered trumps.

I just noticed something else, which makes the place of origin of this Furfanto poem somewhat more likely to be closer to Cesena than Bologna: Its meter and rhyme scheme are exactly the same as the Cesena poem, and both of them do nothing but praise the ladies in question, profusely and uncritically (unlike many other tarocchi appropriati works). It is also presented in a similar way, with the name of the trump at the top of each stanza (the Cesena poem then also writes the name of the corresponding lady after the trump name, but that is not the case here, of course).

This probably indicates that it was not only composed somewhere fairly close to Cesena, but also around the same time as the Cesena work. That one was written sometime between about 1535 and 1557, because it is very strongly influenced by Pomeran's Triomphi ... sopra li terrocchi in laude delle famose gentil donne di Vinegia published in 1534 (the source of the meter and rhyme scheme used), and because the first line of its Emperor stanza refers to Charles V, who ceased to be known as Emperor in February 1558 (following his abdication). More precise dating of it should be possible by researching the various ladies mentioned, but this is enough to place it (and thus probably also the Furfanto poem) in the heyday of the tarocchi appropriati genre. The genre peaked in popularity in the 1540s; the Cesena poem is likely to have been written no later than the end of that decade, especially considering its reliance on Pomeran.

Interesting points, Nathaniel, thanks. I have given Andrea the link to these posts of yours. And sorry for this late acknowledgement: I've been focused on getting up a good translation of the poem, with Andrea's help.

About the meter and rhyme scheme: in my mind, the question remains of whether they were simply a standard form among the writers of octaves generally at that time. Looking at other appropriati, I see that the one to the prostitutes of Florence has the same rhyme scheme and meter (http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=887), as well as Croce's, Bologna, 1602, and the B order Tridentine Triumph, dated to 1517 (http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=898). The practice of putting the name of the card above the lines dedicated to it, and sometimes the lady, was even more common. For example, the C order Pavia appropriati, c. 1525-1540, which we've discussed elsewhere.

Well, in regard to the meter / rhyme scheme / layout, there is something that I should have pointed out earlier, but I did not remember it until after I sent my last post: All three of these features of the Cesena poem and the Furfanto work are the same as in Pomeran's work. The placement of the trump name above the stanza in the Furfanto booklet, in particular, looks exactly the same as in the early editions of the Pomeran text. The ladies' names are not presented next to the trump name there in either of these printed works.

The fact that the Cesena and Furfanto poems contain nothing but entirely uncritical and effusive praise of the ladies is a further feature that they share with Pomeran's work, and something that sets these three apart from all other poems in the genre that I can recall from the mid-16th century.

When you also consider how successful and popular the Pomeran book evidently was, I think these facts alone would be enough for one to conclude that the Cesena and Furfanto poems were inspired by Pomeran's poem, and indeed, if their trump names and order were not so similar, you could be inclined to think that the two authors could have been inspired by it independently, and not influenced by one another at all. But given those similarities, I think it is much more likely that one work came before the other, and that the author of the later work was aware of the earlier one.

Of the two, I think it is the Cesena work which is by far more likely to have been the earlier, because it is very obviously based closely on Pomeran's work: The author not only devotes each stanza to a separate lady, but also uses expressions and turns of phrase very similar to Pomeran's, even going so far as to copy Pomeran's phrase "from the Ganges to Thule" not far from the position where Pomeran himself used it: Pomeran has dal Gange a Tyle (in Carro Triomphale), the Cesena poem has del Gange al Thile (in Rota di fortuna, directly above Carro triomphal).

The Furfanto author was more original, and diverged further from Pomeran, both in his overall concept and in his language. So I think it is most likely that the Cesena poem was written first, directly modeled on Pomeran, and then the Furfanto poet was inspired by that (and/or by similar efforts in the same poetic circles around the same time) to write his own rather more inventive version.

The "War on Cupid" theme we find in the World & Traitor verses was quite a common one among North Italian courtier poets of the 16th century. For example, here is one by Paride da Ceresara from the court of Isabella d'Este:

Trovai un giorno Amor chera si lasso
Che dormendo parea che fossi morto
Et io col stral pian pian timido e smorto
Larcho gli furo: e il spezzo i’ cima a un sasso
Col pianto, e coi suspiri, poi che nel basso
Dil cuor e igliocchi amaramente I porto
Gli spengo il foco e per piu mio conforto
A spenachiar costui chino mabasso
Ma dal dolor svegliossi e ritrovando
Larmi sue rotte, atanta offesa, e perse
Si volse al ciel di rabbia lachrymando
E da sue luce rigide e perverse
Si trasse il velo, et e me corse e quando
Con quel mi strinse, alhor lui gliocchi aperse.

One day I found Cupid, who was so weary
That while sleeping it seemed that he was dead.
And I, timid and sickly, with his arrow slowly
Pierced him: and broke his bow upon a rock.
With tears, and with sighs, which I bear bitterly
In the depths of my heart and eyes,
I put out his torch and for my greater comfort
Leant over him to pluck out his feathers.
But from the pain, he awoke and found me
And his weapons, with great offense, broken and lost.
He turned and cried to the sky in anger
And by its rigid and perverse lights
He drew off his blindfold and with opened eyes
Ran me down and with it bound me.

Source of Sonnet:
Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, MS Italiani cl.9#264 (7560) (Zeno Apostolo 482) Paris Caesareus Junior, sig. 27r, as quoted by Stephen J. Campbell in "Eros in the Flesh: Petrarchan Desire, the Embodied Eros, and Male Beauty in Italian Art, 1500-1540" published in Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 35:3, Fall 2005. Note 39, p. 661.

It is a Petrarchian style Sonnet [with ABBA ABBA Octave & CDC DCD sestet with volta (Cupid wakes) on 9th line]. It was the theme of making war on Cupid 'Voi fate gnerra, al fanciulin d’Amore,' and the phrases about plucking the feathers of the God of Love, "ſpenachiar la piuma, al dio d'Amor", & taking the bow and arrows from his hands, " Tolendo a lui di mano, l’arco el ſtrale," that reminded me of this poem, specifically the verses on the World, Angel, Lightning, Traitor, Temperance, Love & the Juggle:

MONDO

Behold the mirror that the World casts and illuminates
With grace, with virtue, with Beauty.
Behold a beautiful face, to pluck the feather
Of the God of Love with admirable dexterity.
It is not custom for the world to have
Such great wonder, which it appreciates as a Diva.
Well can you call yourself happy & playful,
Who looks like you, the beauty of the world.

ANGELO

Who looks at the beautiful appearance, gestures, and ways,
You can say: behold the angelic Nature
To go full of virtue, that unties the knots.*
If they had that Cupid procure against you,
Strength they have not, the amorous frauds,
May heaven and the world well watch and measure,
The pure will, Divine concept,
That makes you seem like an angel.

* "che s[ci]ogli i nodi": an eptithet of the Virgin Mary [undoer of knots], but also for humanists of Fama built upon Virtue; idiomatically "that overcomes difficulties".

SAGIETA

Like lightning, or true lightning of Jove,
Your gaze goes through every hard heart,
What do you see, a hundred thousand proofs,
Cupid raises the bow and arrow,
And your gentle guise moves you
To uphold your honor with art,
Even if the blind boy attacks,
His advances are little to nothing with you.

TRADITOR

You make war on the little boy of Love,
Taking the bow and arrow from his hand,
And worse you call him the traitor.
No longer gracious, but beastly,
You are adorned with so much favor
That despising others, you do great harm.
If you rob others of your heart, you commit a sin,
Whoever robs someone else is hanged.

TEMPERANZA

Temperance is entirely yours, even as
Company with such as prudence,
Let me sing that here in our age,
It is not like you, tempered by royalty,
Of worthy blood, and by nature to display,
having wounded Cupid, the clipped off wings
If my Instrument plays, and I sing, and I say:
Among the beautiful, you have pride of place.

AMOR

Madonna I know that you know love
Even if you sometimes despise it,
You do so that it may not act superior,
Nor your liberty be taken away from you:
But your beauty, with splendour,
Collects many Lovers, and this happens
Because, when looking at your face,
We see Love, with you in paradise.

BAGATIN

Love may well trifle with you,
Pretend what it is not, to deceive you,
And you flee these deceptions,
So that in the end even he is forced to praise you.
I am not alone, because all of us,
Forgive us, badly want to dominate you:
You are a flower of Amaranth, or Hyacinth,
The presence of which always vanquished love.