Ross G Caldwell said:
The heraldry of the city of Genoa has two towers like this, IIRC.
Although the crayfish is most likely in its connection here with the moon to relate to the sign cancer; it could also, possibly, be a visual pun to refer to Lombardi [which also has the meaning 'crayfish']?
le Pendu said:
I'm not so sure about the dresses themselves, as that seems to be a style (with the belt just below the bosom and the "pregnant" look that ended by the end of the 15th century, as far as I know).
Yes I think your right about the high belted gown. The high belt of the gown, the height of fashion in the 15th century, certainly began to 'descend' around the turn of the century and there are few examples beyond the first decade of the 16th. So it seems have declined in popularity by the end of the 15th and to have ended as a look early 16th century.
le Pendu said:
although I think it informative that Ross found a similar design on the Charles VI, that is the closest connection, I think.
I think in its three details, high waisted gown, hanging sleeve and hairstyle, it is closest. Individual parts can be found on their own, the high waisted gown is common to most of the Gringonneur female figures, Justice, Temperance and Sun for example; also, evidence of its fashion in the 15th century, we can see it is common in other painted decks, such as the d'Este [Queen of Cups, Queen of Swords, Temperance], also the Rosenthal Visconti-Sforza.
The Brera-Brambilla Visconti-Sforza Queen of Staves has both a high waisted gown and a slashed hanging sleeve, though it is of the very low 'training across the floor' type [Kaplan Vol I. p.97]; on first glance I also thought there was a faint white outline of a slashed hanging sleeve suggested on the Cary-Yale Visconti-Sforza page of cups, but..no, my eyes decieved me, from what Kaplan says what I saw as a hanging sleeve is the ducal crown on a thin cape [Vol I. p.95].
The regular appearance of the high waisted gown in these early painted decks is evidence of its particular popularity in the 15th century I agree. But note, it is on several of the other uncut sheets and some early cards shown in Kaplan, would you say this detail makes them all 15th century?
Kwaw