The Classification of Tarot Designs

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The Classification of Tarot Designs

Although hundreds of different designs were used for tarot cards through the centuries, it is possible to sort them into groups and study how different design traditions are related. Most tarot decks, like most decks of ordinary playing cards, were made following a particular standard pattern. A standard pattern is a set of designs that is followed closely from printing to printing. When a deck of cards wears out or cards become lost, players generally prefer to replace the deck with another using the same familiar designs. Hence cardmakers tend to update their designs little if at all. The Tarot de Marseille is an excellent example of a standard pattern. The designs remained essentially the same over a period of at least three centuries, even though they were made by many different printers in many different cities.

In addition to decks made according to the standard patterns, there were also luxury decks or art decks, designed to be especially decorative and appeal to collectors. Usually, such decks do not follow the traditional designs very closely, and do not influence the subsequent evolution of the traditional designs. Sometimes, though, a luxury deck becomes the pattern for a new standard pattern, as in the case of the Della Rocca Tarot of 1835, which spawned the modern Milanese tarot pattern, and a luxury rendition of the Tarot of Besancon, which evolved into the modern Swiss 1JJ Tarot.

The various standard patterns and their relationships to each other are treated in detail by Michael Dummett in The Game of Tarot and in the publications of the International Playing Card Society. Here is a summary classification of the standard tarot patterns. The abbreviations used by the IPCS and Dummett to identify the standard patterns are shown in green text.

I.
The Western Tradition
A.Tarot of Milan: 15th and 16th century; only one fragment (the Cary sheet) survives, along with a number of cards from the Visconti-Sforza luxury decks.

B. Marseilles Family, derived from the Tarot of Milan
1.Tarot de Marseille: 17th century (possibly 16th) to present; popular in eastern France.

2.Tarot de Besançon: variant form of Tarot de Marseille, with Junon and Jupiter substituted for Papess and Pope. 18th and 19th centuries.

2a.Swiss Tarot: artistic redesign of the Tarot de Besançon, with many variant trump subject. 1840 to present.

3.Tarocco Piemontese (Piedmontese Tarot): minor modification of the Tarot de Marseille, used in the Piedmont and Liguria districts of Italy. 18th century to present (recent cards are double-headed).

4.Lombardy Tarot: minor modification of the Tarot de Marseille, used in Lombardy (Milan). 18th and 19th century.

4a.
Tarocchino Milanese (Della Rocca Tarot): artistic redesign of the Lombardy Tarot based on the Della Rocca luxury deck. 1835 to 20th century.

C. Belgian Tarot: 17th and 18th century; uses the Marseilles ordering but has variant trump designs, including the Spanish Captain and Bacchus replacing Papess and Pope; popular in northern France and the low countries.
II. The Eastern Tradition
Tarots of Ferrara and Venice: 15th and 16th century; only luxury decks (D'Este, Gringonneur) and fragments (Metropolitan Museum) survive.

III. The Southern Tradition


A.Tarocco Bolognese: 16th century (possibly earlier) to present. (The Rothschild sheet is apparently an early Tarocco Bolognese.) In the 16th or 17th century, the deck was shortened by removal of the number cards 2-5, and double-headed designs were introduced. Papal and imperial cards were replaced by four moors in the 18th century. Found only in Bologna.


B. Tarot and Minchiate of Florence
1.Tarot of Florence: 16th century (possibly earlier), perhaps also 17th century. Only a few fragments survive; the Rosenwald sheet is probably an early Florentine Tarot.

2. Minchiate: 16th century to early 20th century; extended 97-card deck, including additional trumps depicting the signs of the zodiac, the four elements, and four additional virtues. Popular throughout much of Italy and even into France.

C.Tarocco Siciliano: 17th century to present. Derived from the Tarot of Florence, but with many unusual variant trumps. Shortened to 63 cards by omission of the lowest cards of each suit. Limited to Sicily.