Myrrha
I sometimes make color xerox enlargements of these cards to hang on the wall. Temperance has been up for a while now and I've just noticed that she appears to be levitating. Her robes seem to come down below her right foot before they rest on the ground and the ferret/ermine creature's paws are on the same plane as the robes. It is really hard to believe that the artist did this by accident as the brown robe almost encloses the figure's foot and really emphasises this look of floating. I wonder if floating a few inches off the ground is part of the renaissance iconography for temperance or chastity? Or maybe it expresses what is shown in the Marseilles deck by giving the figure wings?
It is also interesting that there is no water visible although you can tell by the way she holds them that the vases are not empty.
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/mantegna/index.html
This is a small picture but I think you can see her foot is off the ground.
Myrrha (who is off to look for scan of Visconti Temperance)
It is also interesting that there is no water visible although you can tell by the way she holds them that the vases are not empty.
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/mantegna/index.html
This is a small picture but I think you can see her foot is off the ground.
Myrrha (who is off to look for scan of Visconti Temperance)