Italy

Playing cards were first noted in Italy in 1377, coinciding with local ordinances passed in Florence to regulate their use. From this point onward, Italy played a seminal role in the history of cartomancy and gaming. Most notably, the Duchy of Milan became the birthplace of the Tarot in the 1440s, with the production of the luxurious Visconti-Sforza decks for the ruling dynasty (Kaplan, Encyclopedia, i, chps. 4–7).

Following the invention of Tarot, Italy became a patchwork of distinct regional playing styles and deck patterns. The Minchiate Tarot, featuring an expanded deck, developed in Florence around 1500, while the Tarocchino Bolognese emerged in Bologna during the same period. Later, the Tarocco Siciliano appeared in Sicily, exhibiting the influence of both Florentine and Bolognese ancestors (Dummett, Game, chps. 16–21).

While Tarot spread from Italy to France and the rest of Europe in the sixteenth century, Italy remained a hub of innovation and production. In the nineteenth century, northern Italy became a centre for industrial card manufacturing. A standout figure of this era was Ferdinando Gumppenberg, a German émigré who established himself in Milan around 1807 and revolutionized the quality of Italian decks (Kaplan, Encyclopedia, ii, pp. 214, 222).

Introduction

Italy holds a preeminent position in the history of playing cards. Direct evidence confirms the use of cards in Florence as early as 1377, and the fifteenth century saw the invention of Tarot (originally trionfi) in the courts of Milan. The political fragmentation of the Italian peninsula allowed for the development of unique regional patterns in Florence, Bologna, and Sicily, creating a rich tapestry of card variations that persists to this day.

History

The first definitive references to playing cards in Europe appear in 1377 across four different cities. Two of these—Florence and Siena—were in Italy. Records subsequently appear in Viterbo in 1379, Sicily in the 1380s, and Venice in 1390. This chronology suggests that playing cards were effectively circulating throughout the entire Italian peninsula by the close of the fourteenth century (Hargrave, History, pp. 223–225; Dummett, Game, pp. 10–11).

[Image of map of Renaissance Italy showing key city-states]

By the mid-fifteenth century, the use of playing cards was well-established in all major Italian cities and states, including Rome, Genoa, Bologna, Ferrara, Urbino, Naples, and Palermo (Dummett, Game, pp. 418–427).

The Birth of Tarot

While playing cards existed elsewhere, Italy is unique as the birthplace of Tarot. Although various theories arose during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries regarding ancient Egyptian or mystical origins, modern scholarship universally agrees that the first trionfi (triumphs) were produced in the 1440s for the Visconti-Sforza rulers of the Duchy of Milan. The creation of these decks was possibly associated with the marriage of Francesco Sforza to Bianca Maria Visconti in 1441 (Moakley, Tarot; Kaplan, Encyclopedia, i, chps. 5, 7).

The iconography of these early hand-painted luxury decks often reflected their patrons. In the Pierpont Morgan Visconti-Sforza Tarot, for instance, the figures are believed to represent Francesco and Bianca Maria; the Chariot card is speculated to depict Visconti being drawn on a wedding carriage.

These early decks established the structure of the Tarot: the standard 56 cards (four suits of court and pip cards) were augmented by 22 additional cards. These “triumphs”—later known as the Major Arcana—depicted characters from Renaissance Italian society, the Cardinal Virtues, and cosmological elements (Farley, Cultural History, chp. 2).

The fashion for trionfi quickly spread beyond Milan. The Beinecke D’Este Ferrara Tarot was produced for the Este dukes of Ferrara shortly thereafter. By the second half of the fifteenth century, various hand-painted Tarot decks were associated with Florence, Bologna, and other cultural centres (Kaplan, Encyclopedia, i, chps. 8–10; Dummett, Game, pp. 68–87; Maggio, ‘New Insights’).

Regional Patterns and Evolution

As the popularity of the game solidified, distinct Tarot patterns began to crystallize in different Italian regions by the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Florence and Minchiate: The game of Germini, better known today as Minchiate, emerged in Florence in the late 1490s or early 1500s. This variant utilized a massive 97-card deck: 56 standard cards, 40 triumphs, and the Fool. The additional triumphs notably included the twelve signs of the Zodiac and the four elements, reflecting the Renaissance interest in astrology and natural philosophy (Kaplan, Encyclopedia, ii, chp. 13; Dummett, Game, pp. 338–343).

Bologna and Tarocchino: Simultaneously, a divergent pattern developed in Bologna. The Tarocchino Bolognese utilized a truncated deck where the 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s were removed, leaving a total of 62 cards. This pattern evolved over centuries; notably, in 1725, the religiously sensitive trumps of the Popess, Empress, Emperor, and Pope were removed by papal order and replaced by four Mori (Moors) to avoid clerical offense (Dummett, Game, pp. 316–319).

Sicily and Tarocco Siciliano: Tarot arrived in Sicily relatively late, in the early seventeenth century, but developed a unique identity. The Tarocco Siciliano pattern, which solidified in the eighteenth century, consists of 63 cards. It includes 21 major arcana, the Fool (named Il Fuggitivo or The Fugitive), 16 court cards, and 25 pip cards. Uniquely, it is the only surviving Tarot pattern to utilize the Portuguese suit system (distinct from the Spanish system primarily in the design of the swords and clubs) and retains design elements from the Minchiate (Dummett, ‘Sicilian Trumps’; Kaplan, Encyclopedia, pp. 257, 268–269).

International Exchange and Suit Systems

The Italian Wars of the sixteenth century, in which France and Spain vied for hegemony over the Italian states, facilitated the export of Tarot. French soldiers returning from Italy brought knowledge of the game to France, where it evolved into the Tarot de Marseille (Dummett, Game, p. 407; Decker, Depaulis and Dummett, Wicked Pack, chp. 1).

By the eighteenth century, this cultural flow reversed. The French Tarot de Marseille was reintroduced into northwestern Italy, eventually evolving into the distinct Piedmontese Tarot. This double-ended pattern mimicked the Marseille design but introduced Italian inscriptions and unique elements, such as a butterfly on the Fool card and a face on the stomach of the Devil (Dummett, Game, chp. 20).

The political division of Italy was mirrored in its playing cards. While the traditional Italian suit system (Swords, Cups, Coins, Batons) remained dominant in the northeast (Venice, Bologna), foreign influences took hold elsewhere:

• French Suits: Dominant in the northwest and Tuscany, influenced by the proximity to France and the prestige of French court culture.
• German Suits: Found in pockets of the northeast, a legacy of Austrian rule.
• Spanish/Portuguese Suits: Prevailed in the south and Sicily, reflecting the long influence of the Spanish crown (Dummett, Game, pp. 18–28).

19th Century Manufacturing and Design

The nineteenth century marked a high point for Italian card production, driven by prominent manufacturers. In Bologna, the engraver Giuseppe Maria Mitelli had already set a high artistic standard in the seventeenth century, but the industrial age brought new scale.

In Milan, the German-born Ferdinando Gumppenberg became the city’s most important manufacturer after his arrival in 1807. Collaborating with the artist Carlo Dellarocca, he developed the Lombardy Tarot, also known as the Soprafino (Super Fine) Tarot. This design was renowned for its elegance and was widely imitated by North Italian makers throughout the century (Kaplan, Encyclopedia, ii, pp. 362–363).

Other notable producers included the Solesio family in Genoa, Alessandro Viassone in Turin, and the Avondo Brothers, who dominated the market in Serravalle (Keller (ed.), Catalogue, ii, pp. 30–54).

Decline and Modern Revival

Despite the immense popularity of games like Minchiate in the eighteenth century—evidenced by the installation of card tables in Florentine opera booths—traditional card games faced a decline by the early twentieth century. The last Genoese producers of Minchiate closed in 1935, and the game largely died out (Dummett, Game, p. 342).

However, the late twentieth century saw a robust revival, fueled by a renewed interest in Tarot for both gaming and esoteric purposes. This resurgence has been supported by international interest and domestic Italian publishers such as Lo Scarabeo (founded in 1987), ensuring that Italy remains a vital center for playing card culture.

Sources (References)

• Benham, W. Gurney. Playing Cards: History of the Pack and Explanation of its Many Secrets. London: Spring Books, 1931.
• Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis and Michael Dummett. A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot. London: Duckworth Overlook, 1996.
• Dummett, Michael. The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd, 1980.
• Dummett, Michael. ‘The Sicilian Trumps’. The Playing Card: Journal of the International Playing-Card Society, Vol. 33, No. 3 (January–March, 2005), pp. 156–160.
• Farley, Helen. A Cultural History of Tarot: From Entertainment to Esotericism. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009.
• Hargrave, Catherine Perry. A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming. New York: Dover Publications, 1966.
• Kaplan, Stuart R. The Encyclopedia of Tarot. 4 volumes. Stamford, Connecticut: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., 1978–2005.
• Keller, William B. (ed.). A Catalogue of the Cary Collection of Playing Cards in the Yale University Library. 2 volumes. New Haven: The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 1981.
• Lo Scarabeo. ‘About Us’ [Web Resource]. Accessed via: https://www.loscarabeo.com/en/pages/about-us
• Maggio, Emilia. ‘New Insights into the So-Called Alessandro Sforza Deck’. The Playing Card: Journal of the International Playing-Card Society, Vol. 44, No. 4 (April–June, 2016), pp. 256–271.
• Moakley, Gertrude. The Tarot Cards Painted by Bonifacio Bembo for the Visconti-Sforza Family: An Iconographic and Historical Study. New York: The New York Public Library, 1966.
• O’Donoghue, Freeman M. (ed.). Catalogue of the Collection of Playing Cards Bequeathed to the Trustees of the British Museum by the Late Lady Charlotte Schreiber. London: Longmans & Co., 1901.
• Pratesi, Franco. ‘Whist Against Minchiate in Florence During the 19th Century’. The Playing Card: Journal of the International Playing-Card Society, Vol. 15 No. 2 (October–December, 1986), pp. 29–34.
• Pratesi, Franco. ‘Exports of Florentine Minchiate, 1729–1762’. Ludica, Vol. 24 (2018), pp. 20–38.
• Yale University Library. ‘Beinecke D’Este Tarot’ [Web Resource]. Accessed via: https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/33215685

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