Tarot History Forum

SteveM wrote: 08 Jul 2025, 02:53
Viti describes the sixth trump as depicting the Three Graces, nude but modestly veiled, gazing at one another in apparent conversation, in a scene of harmony and poise. At their feet stands a phoenix, which somehow symbolizes their unity within a single subject: the Divine Lady. Perhaps Viti is referring to his own Most Illustrious Lady and patroness here?

Could this Divine Lady, in whom the Three Graces are united, be intended as the mirror image of the ideal lover, he who has mastered his passions? Or perhaps Viti is simply flattering his patroness, “in whom all three are embodied”?


Gratia a secreti e savii non va a sorte,
Ma con ragion, ché con amore ha il vanto
Colui che asconde le passion più forte.

Grace does not go by chance to the discreet and wise,
But by reason, for in love, the glory belongs
To him who hides the strongest passions.

Viti's description of the sixth Triumph


Grace is depicted in the sixth Triumph by three women, who are the Three Graces, shown nude, with golden hair falling over their shoulders. Their less modest parts are veiled with white, delicate cloth, though not truly concealed; rather, they appear to be holding the veil lightly with their arms, so that to the viewer, they seem only partly covered. One gazes at another, as if they were engaged in conversation.

At their feet stands a phoenix, turning its beak toward itself, wings spread, inside a pyre. The Graces have the phoenix as their symbol, for they are found, at a single age, united in one subject, as is now clearly seen in the divine lady, in whom all three appear together.

Nor do I believe, Most Illustrious Lady, that I have withheld any judgment here, agreeing in this with all those whose spirits, adorned with the rarest virtues, are able to recognize such things easily with both the eye of the body and the eye of the soul. Above the Graces are three verses, most fittingly placed.

SteveM wrote: 13 Jul 2025, 11:07

mikeh wrote: 23 Jun 2025, 13:20 Yes, I agree, about the Italian speaker - as long as he or she was willing to examine Livy as well.

There is also the account from Boccaccio's 'Concerning Famous Women'. Here is the end of which, commencing from Sophinisba's plea to her captor Masanissa:

Pianto fu 'l mio di tanta sposa erede:
lei, et ogni mio bene, ogni speranza
perder elessi per non perder fede.

mikeh wrote: 18 Jul 2025, 01:05 My impression from past examination is that the translation of Petrarch is that of Wilkins. It used to be in archive.org, but I can't find it there now. Maybe it still is there in Turkey.

Trump 12 - Fede (Faith)

Italian text
Fede hebbe Sophonisba non suspetta
A Massinissa, che 'l venen promisse
Se a seguire el triompho era constretta.

English translation
Sophonisba was faithful to Massinissa
Beyond doubt, because she promised to drink poison
If she were forced to follow the triumph.

Note the word "Triompho" in the third verse.
External Links to Content Problems http://www.livius.org/so-st/sophoniba/sophoniba.html

Sophonisba was a Carthaginian noblewoman who lived during the Second Punic War, and the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco.

In 206 BC, Sophonisba had been betrothed to the King Masinissa ....

[Syphax] Massinissa's rival entered into the Carthaginian alliance after the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal gave him his daughter Sophonisbe as his wife. This beautiful woman had previously been betrothed to Massinissa by Hasdrubal, who had firmly expected a marriage. The Numidian's already existing enmity with Syphax was considerably intensified by this marriage.

Masinissa took part in the decisive Battle of Zama in 202 BC that effectively ended the war in Carthage's defeat; he also allowed his wife Sophonisba, a famed Carthaginian noblewoman who had influenced Numidian affairs to Carthage's benefit, to poison herself in lieu of being paraded in a triumph in Rome.

Bild_2025-07-18_135840761.png Viewed 343 times 208.86 KiB

According to Polybius, after Hasdrubal surrendered to Scipio, his wife cursed her husband, cut the throats of their two sons, threw them into a burning temple, and charged in herself. Hasdrubal was taken to Rome and displayed during Scipio's triumph, but later allowed to live in peace in Italy.

Sia Giovan Battista Venturi (il primo editore moderno dei Tarocchi) che, sulla sua scia, Rodolfo Renier considerarono i tarocchi un'opera giovanile di Boiardo, e li datarono intorno al 1461. Già Vittorio Rossi, però, nella recensione al volume miscellaneo su Boiardo in cui era comparso il saggio di Renier e all'edizione delle opere di Boiardo curata da Angelo Solerti, che presentava i tarocchí con PIllustrazíone di Pier AntonioViti, aveva ritenuto probabile una data di composizione piú tarda: « Le quali terzine, pensa il Renier col Venturi siano "uno dei primi lavori poetici del conte", perché questi vi si rivela maldestro nel maneggio della rima, verseggìatore duro e stentato [... ]. L'ottimo amico mi insegna che codesti sono argomenti malfidi e forse non mi darà torto, se io le riferirò, piuttosto che agli anni intorno al 1461, al decennio che corre dal 1469 al 1478; destinate a trattenimenti di corte spetteranno agli anni in cui piú di frequente e piú a lungo il Boiardo soggiornò presso la corte di Ferrara». 4 Alla motivazione "esterna" di Rossi, Giulio Reichenbach aggiunse, alcuni anni piú tardi, nella monografia dedicata allo scrittori [start p 9] di Scandiano, una motivazione "interna": «malagevolmente si attribuirebbe questo lavoro ai primi esperimenti di un novellino, mentre d'altro canto l'abbondanza e facilità dei richiami storici e mitologici attestano una coltura ormai ampia e vissuta».5 Il problema della datazione, in mancanza di testimonianze dirette e di esemplari del testo coevi alla data di composizione, non può risolversi definitivamente, ma è probabile che abbia ragione Vittori Rossi nell'assegnare i Tarocchí ad un momento dell'esperienza di Boiardo in cui piú intenso era il rapporto con la realtà della corte estense, della quale, peraltro, era noto l'interesse per i giochi di carte, e per i tarocchi in particolare.6
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4. V. Rossi, recensione a Studi su Matteo Maria Boiardo, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1894, e a M.M. BOIARDO, Le poesie volgari e latinìe riscontrate sui codici e su le prime stampe da A. Solertí, Bologna, Romagnoli-Dall'Acqua, I894, in "Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana XXV 1895, pp. 394-411 (la cit. è a p. 407).
5. G. REICHENBACH, Matteo María Boíardo, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1929, p. 247.
6. Cfr. G. CAMPORI, Le carte da gìuoco dipìnte per glí Estensí nel secolo XV, in "Atti e Memorie delle Deputazioni di Storia Patria per le province modenesi e parmensi", VII 1874, pp. 123-52; Le carte dí corte. I Tarocchì, cit.; Foa, I Tarocchì' dí Matteo María Boíardo dalla corte estense alla tipografia veneziana, cit.

Both Giovan Battista Venturi (the first modern editor of the Tarot) and, following in his footsteps, Rodolfo Renier considered the Tarot to be an early work by Boiardo, and dated it around 1461. However, Vittorio Rossi, in his review of the miscellaneous volume on Boiardo in which Renier's essay appeared and of the edition of Boiardo's works edited by Angelo Solerti, which presented the Tarot with illustrations by Pier Antonio Viti, had already considered a later date of composition probable: « Renier and Venturi think that these tercets are "one of the count's first poetic works", because he reveals himself to be clumsy in the handling of rhyme, a hard and labored versifier [...]. My excellent friend teaches me that these are untrustworthy arguments and perhaps he will not disagree with me if I refer them to the decade from 1469 to 1478 rather than to the years around 1461; intended for court entertainments, they will pertain to the years in which Boiardo most frequently and for the longest periods stayed at the court of Ferrara. 4 To Rossi's "external" motivation, Giulio Reichenbach added, a few years later, in the monograph dedicated to the writers [start p 9] of Scandiano, an "internal" motivation: "it would be difficult to attribute this work to the first experiments of a novice, while on the other hand the abundance and ease of the historical and mythological references attest to a by then broad and well-rounded culture."5 The problem of dating, in the absence of direct evidence and copies of the text contemporary with the date of composition, cannot be definitively resolved, but it is likely that Vittorio Rossi is right in assigning the Tarot to a moment in Boiardo's experience in which the relationship with the reality of the Este court was more intense, whose interest in card games, and in tarocchi in particular, was well known.6
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4. V. Rossi, review of Studi su Matteo Maria Boiardo, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1894, and of M.M. BOIARDO, "The vernacular and Latin poems found in codices and early printing by A. Solertí," Bologna, Romagnoli-Dall'Acqua, 1894, in Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana XXV 1895, pp. 394-411 (the citation is on p. 407).
5. G. REICHENBACH, Matteo María Boíardo, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1929, p. 247.
6. Cf. G. CAMPORI, "The playing cards painted for the Este family in the 15th century," in Atti e Memorie delle Deputazioni di Storia Patria per le provincia di Modenesi e Parmensi, VII 1874, pp. 123-52; The cards if the court. The Tarocchi, cit.; Foa, "The Tarocchi of Matteo María Boíardo from the Este court to the Venetian printing press," cit.

In 1478 Boiardo married Taddea dei Gonzaga of Novellara, by whom he had six children.

In 1481 Boiardo was invested with the governorship of Reggio, an office which he filled with noted success till his death, except for a brief interval (1481–86) when he was governor of Modena.

L'elenco di personaggi storici o leggendari dal valore emblematico è inoltre uno degli elementi che riconducono la scrittura dei 'tarocchi a quella dei Tríonfi di Francesco Petrarca, insieme con l'uso della terzina e con l'idea delle passioni umane che vincono runa sull'altra.12 Proprio ne
li anni in cui Boiardo presumibilmente compoIlevai suoi tarocchí, soggiornava a Ferrara Bernardo Lapini, detto l'Ilicino, e qui vi componeva il suo commento ai Trionfi petrarcheschi, dedicato a Borso d'Este.13
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12. Cfr. RENIER, Tarocchi di Matteo Marìa Boiardo, cit., p. 250.
13. Sull'Ilicino, che Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti pone nella schiera dei poeti estensi al tempo di Boiardo (A.Tissoni BENVENUTI, Rimatorì estensi di epoca boiardesca, in "Boiardo e la critica ontemporarìea. Atti del Convegno di stutli su Matteo Maria Boiardo", Scandiano-Reggio Emilia 25-27 aprile I969, a cura di G. Anceschi, Firenze, Olschki, 1970, pp. 503-10), cfr. N. QUARTA, I commentatori quattrocentisti del Petrarca, in "Atti della Reale Accademia di Archeologia, Lettere e Belle Arti", xxiii 1905, parte II pp. 269-324; C. CORSO, L'ilicino (Bernardo Lapini), in "Bullettino senese di Storia Patria", LXIV 1957, pp. 3-108; V. HERRY, Una nota sulla fortuna del Commento dí Bernardo Ilicino ai 'Trionfi' petrarcheschì, in "Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana", clxiii I986, pp. 235-46.

The list of historical or legendary figures with emblematic value is also one of the elements that link the writing of the Tarocchi to that of the Trionfi of Francesco Petrarch, together with the use of the tercet and the idea of human passions triumphing over one another.12 Precisely in the years in which Boiardo presumably composed his Tarocchi, Bernardo Lapini, known as Ilicino, was staying in Ferrara and here he composed his commentary on Petrarch's Trionfi, dedicated to Borso d'Este.13
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12. See RENIER, "Tarocchi di Matteo Marìa Boiardo," cit., p. 250.
13. On Ilicino, whom Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti places among the ranks of the Este poets at the time of Boiardo (A. Tissoni Benvenuti, Este poets of the Boiardo era, in Boiardo and contemporary criticism". Proceedings of the conference on Matteo Maria Boiardo, Scandiano-Reggio Emilia 25-27 April 1969, edited by G. Anceschi, Florence, Olschki, 1970, pp. 503-10), see N. QUARTA, "The Quattrocento Commentators on Petrarch," in Atti della Reale Accademia di Archeologia, Lettere e Belle Arti, xxiii 1905, part II pp. 269-324; C. CORSO, "L'ilicino (Bernardo Lapini)", in Bullettino senese di Storia Patria, LXIV 1957, pp. 3-108; V. HERRY, "A Note on the Fortune of Bernardo Ilicino's Commentary on Petrarch's 'Triumphs," in Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana, clxiii 1986, pp. 235-46.

The list of historical or legendary figures with emblematic value is also one of the elements that link the writing of the Tarocchi to that of the Trionfi of Francesco Petrarch, together with the use of the tercet and the idea of human passions triumphing over one another.12 Precisely in the years in which Boiardo presumably composed his Tarocchi, Bernardo Lapini, known as Ilicino, was staying in Ferrara and here he composed his commentary on Petrarch's Trionfi, dedicated to Borso d'Este.13

He finished his "Oration on the Dignity of Man" to accompany his 900 Theses and travelled to Rome to continue his plan to defend them. He had them published together in December 1486 as "Conclusiones philosophicae, cabalasticae et theologicae", and offered to pay the expenses of any scholars who came to Rome to debate them publicly. He wanted the debate to begin on 6 January, which was, as historian Steven Farmer has observed, the feast of Epiphany and symbolic date of the submission of the pagan gentes to Christ in the persons of the Magi. After emerging victorious at the culmination of the debate, Pico planned not only on the symbolic acquiescence of the pagan sages, but also the conversion of Jews as they realised that Jesus was the true secret of their traditions. According to Farmer, Pico may have been expecting quite literally that "his Vatican debate would end with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse crashing through the Roman skies".
In February 1487, Pope Innocent VIII halted the proposed debate, and established a commission to review the orthodoxy of the 900 Theses. Although Pico answered the charges against them, thirteen theses were condemned. Pico agreed in writing to retract them, but he did not change his mind about their validity. Eventually, all 900 theses were condemned. He proceeded to write an apologia defending them, Apologia J. Pici Mirandolani, Concordiae comitis, published in 1489, which he dedicated to his patron, Lorenzo. When the pope was apprised of the circulation of this manuscript, he set up an inquisitorial tribunal, forcing Pico to renounce the Apologia, in addition to his condemned theses, which he agreed to do.

The first two books were published sometime between 1482 and 1483, most likely by Pietro Giovanni di San Lorenzo in Reggio; but all copies were lost.[1] It most likely bore the title L'innamoramento de Orlando. The third book first appeared in 1495 (Venice: Simone Bevilacqua) under the title El fin del inamoramento de' Orlando. The first complete edition was published later in 1495 (Scandiano: Camillo Boiardo). Like the editio princeps (first two books), the first complete edition of 1495 has been completely lost. The oldest copy which came down to us is the 1487 reedition of the first two books (Venice: Pietro de' Piasi); only one copy exists, kept at the Biblioteca Marciana.

In 1478 Boiardo married Taddea dei Gonzaga of Novellara, by whom he had six children.
In 1481 Boiardo was invested with the governorship of Reggio, an office which he filled with noted success till his death, except for a brief interval (1481–86) when he was governor of Modena. The outbreak of war between Ferrara and Venice, the vicissitudes of which are reflected in his Ecloghe volgari, and his concern for his native Scandiano, forced him to relinquish the post.
In 1487 Ercole appointed Boiardo ducal emissary for Reggio, an office which he was to hold until his death, and which has left us the largest nucleus of his Lettere, mostly of an administrative nature.