Il Meneghello Sola Busca

FLizarraga

The Lo Scarabeo, though, does not have the original 15th-century artwork -- it has artwork that was redrawn/painted in the 20th century in a more modern style.

So I think the only full deck at present with the original artwork is the Mayer.

Yes, that is correct.
 

Padma

Seven did a beautiful reworking of the Sola Busca images to make them into a readable RWS deck and named it Sola Busca Revisited. It's a marvel in its own right (in Seven's dreamy linen cardstock), but of course not a reproduction.

I see that it has RWS elements, and certainly must have hugely changed from the original - and cannot be called a true reproduction. I see I am O/T to a point! pardon my post ;)

(I have Seven Star's one, and I do love it)
 

McFaire

Seven's version rearranges the imagery, moving imagery from one card to another, adding elements from other decks, adapting it to fit the RWS system. The trumps are completely different in the original deck. So, no, you couldn't call hers a Sola Busca.

Many people enjoy her deck though because it is familiar in symbolism.
 

starlightexp

I agree that it must have been a cost factor. The Sola Busca cards are a massive size for an Il Meneghello deck and so I can only imagine how expensive the full 79 would have been, upwards of 250euro I would think. Also maybe the cost of licensing the images from the museum are a factor as well. I'd have to save up, but if they did finally come out with the full 78 I'd get it.
 

FLizarraga

The Lo Scarabeo, though, does not have the original 15th-century artwork -- it has artwork that was redrawn/painted in the 20th century in a more modern style.

So I think the only full deck at present with the original artwork is the Mayer.

OK, on second thought I have to expand on this. That's technically correct, but the Lo Scarabeo art work is only modern in the sense that it is based on a copy --made in the 19th century, according to some, and the 20th, according to others; my LS deck is missing the LWB, so I can't say for sure, either-- not on the original art. It has a much clearer line, and has been recolored and made brighter, easier to read, but it's otherwise faithful to the originals.

So it's like, say, Lo Scarabeo's own Visconti Sforza editions, whereas the Mayer and Il Meneghello editions are more like the Stuart Kaplan's facsimile edition of the Visconti Sforza or the Cary-Yale Visconti: large, unwieldy cards with a lot of artistic and historical value, but not for actual reading.
 

starlightexp

I think this deck gets so little attention in because it's such a baffling deck to read with and study.
 

McFaire

I think it's wonderful that this fascinating deck continues to generate discussion and debate after more than five centuries. Cool!

To be clear, the Mayer and the Meneghello are not based on the original art, they are the original 15th century cards reproduced by high quality color photography of the actual ancient cards.

The LS is made with new artwork, modern materials and methods, and of course a modern artist. I had some correspondence not long ago on the matter of the LS artwork with an authoritative source but I wasn't given permission to disclose the source. But the artwork was done in the 20th century. It is quite faithful to the original as FLizarraga pointed out.
 

starlightexp

So the Mayer is the only full reproduction of the whole deck ever done then?
 

McFaire

So the Mayer is the only full reproduction of the whole deck ever done then?

Yes.

Here's a photo of the museum catalog from the 2013 Brera exhibit in Milan. The catalog shows photographs of the original Sola Busca deck. Isn't it just spectacular? Wow. I placed cards from my decks on the catalog in comparison. The LS is on the left, the Mayer on the right, Menegazzi in the middle.
 

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FLizarraga

Yes.

Here's a photo of the museum catalog from the 2013 Brera exhibit in Milan. The catalog shows photographs of the original Sola Busca deck. Isn't it just spectacular? Wow. I placed cards from my decks on the catalog in comparison. The LS is on the left, the Mayer on the right, Menegazzi in the middle.

It is exquisite indeed. Ah!

I agree, it's a fascinating, elusive deck. I have been able to get a few good readings out of the Minchiate, the Mantegna even, but the Sola Busca eludes me. It's a magnificent sphinx of a deck.