Valentina Visconti

... Yes, this little gem. Love it to bits. I had it on my wish-list for several years - I'm *so* glad I stumped up the large wad it cost me.

It's one of those decks that most people dread - a non-standard deck. In several ways, actually, but what concerns me at the moment are the ten extra cards. We have the normal Majors and normal minors, and we have a third group of ten cards in the deck, with interesting and intriguing titles like "Jockey Silks", "Anchovies", "Rooster", "Spurs" and so forth.

I have no problem reading with them, that's now what I'm asking.

What I'm interested in, is does anyone know the *story* of these extra cards? How do they fit into the life-story and wedding of Valentina Visconti, which is what the deck commemorates?

Never heard of it, sorry.

Well, here goes.

Nisaba - I pulled out my copy of the deck (which I had gotten just because it is by Solleone, and I love all Solleone decks for the paper, printing, fabulous artists, etc, etc, etc).
I had not even realized there were an extra ten cards, so thank you for the impetus to take a look at it!

The little folded paper brochure has this statement about the ten cards:

"DATI DIVINITORI

I Tarocchi di Valentina Visconti comprendono 88 carte, composte dalle 78 normali dei Tarocchi più 10 carte del Palio: tali carte rappresentano i 5 Premi alla Corsa ed i Vizi e le Virtu della Tenzone. Con l'aggiunta delle 10 carte del Palio si possono fare previsioni favorevoli partecipanti all Corsa, tenendo conto che le risultanti della divinazione dipenderanno dai modi e dalle capacità dell'interrogante. Per il metodo più facile e più semplice si può suggerire il sequente accorgimento: dare ad ogni borgo o ad ogni fantino una carta a seconda delle caratteristiche rionali o personali, indi mescolare ai normali Tarocchi i 10 del Palio e procedere nella divinazione nel modo tradizionale: i responsi dependeranno dall vicinanza alle carte del Palio di Arcani favorevoli o meno."

Here is a translation , using Google translate and adjusted inexpertly by me, so hopefully someone will jump in and make any necessary corrections!:

" Divination Information:
The Tarot of Valentina Visconti includes 88 cards, composed of the 78 normal Tarot cards plus 10 cards for the Palio (Horserace): These cards represent the 5 Awards for the Race and the Vices and Virtues of the *Contest. With the addition of the 10 cards of the Palio, you can make useful predictions for race participants, taking into account that the divination results will depend on the ability of the reader. You can suggest the following as the easiest and most simple method: give every village and every jockey a card depending on neighborhood or personal characteristics, then mix the 10 Race cards with the normal Tarot cards and proceed in the usual way: The responses will depend on the proximity of these cards to the (other) Arcana, favorable or unfavorable."

*Tenzone: Contest or Combat. Maybe also related to knightly virtues and vices of Tournaments?

At least for the Palio of Siena, there are ten riders (though the number of city districts was larger), so the number of additional cards makes sense! I guess the same was/is true of Asti's race, though I didn't track that down.
Here is a page from wiki on the Palio d'Asti: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Asti

Hope this helps a bit!

Matt

<grin> Thank you! So those ten cards are specifically for horse-races. I might start making my fortune at alcohol-fuelled gambling, then.

But you know what? They seem to work well just as extra cards in standard readings - the rooster indicating cockiness, the silks indicating style, the spurs indicating drive and so forth ...

nisaba said:

<grin> Thank you! So those ten cards are specifically for horse-races. I might start making my fortune at alcohol-fuelled gambling, then.

But you know what? They seem to work well just as extra cards in standard readings - the rooster indicating cockiness, the silks indicating style, the spurs indicating drive and so forth ...

Click to expand...

That sounds like a great way to proceed to me too! I wonder if the Anchovies were a booby-prize of sorts, or kitchen duty, hmmm. Do you have an assignment for that one?
(But maybe the association wasn't negative. Fresh grilled anchovies (the large Mediterranean kind) are a delicacy, and where would Italian cooking be without garlic)?

KhonsuMes said:

That sounds like a great way to proceed to me too! I wonder if the Anchovies were a booby-prize of sorts, or kitchen duty, hmmm. Do you have an assignment for that one?
(But maybe the association wasn't negative. Fresh grilled anchovies (the large Mediterranean kind) are a delicacy, and where would Italian cooking be without garlic)?

Click to expand...

Well, I like anchovies (not the little bottled ones that is all you get in Australia, but the proper ones) and I love garlic, and both of them are health-foods to the point of being downright therapeutic. So I tend to read that card as a blessing or a healing.

KhonsuMes said:

The little folded paper brochure has this statement about the ten cards:

"DATI DIVINITORI

I Tarocchi di Valentina Visconti comprendono 88 carte, composte dalle 78 normali dei Tarocchi più 10 carte del Palio: tali carte rappresentano i 5 Premi alla Corsa ed i Vizi e le Virtu della Tenzone. Con l'aggiunta delle 10 carte del Palio si possono fare previsioni favorevoli partecipanti all Corsa, tenendo conto che le risultanti della divinazione dipenderanno dai modi e dalle capacità dell'interrogante. Per il metodo più facile e più semplice si può suggerire il sequente accorgimento: dare ad ogni borgo o ad ogni fantino una carta a seconda delle caratteristiche rionali o personali, indi mescolare ai normali Tarocchi i 10 del Palio e procedere nella divinazione nel modo tradizionale: i responsi dependeranno dall vicinanza alle carte del Palio di Arcani favorevoli o meno."

Click to expand...

KhonsuMes, I was curious if you had anywhere posted the contents of the entire brochure that you have? I recently acquired deck #487/1000 of the I Tarocchi di Valentina Visconti per il Palio D'Asti release by Maria Teresa Perosino and Sergio Panza. My deck came without such an insert (which takes away from my love of it not at all). Thanks.

<grinning> *Such* a good deck, isn't it! I'm glad to find a fellow-owner. I've shown it to various people, who have all been awestruck - then I tell them how much it cost me, and they don't want to touch it. <laughter>

You know what? If someone offered me a car for it, I wouldn't swap.

nisaba said:

You know what? If someone offered me a car for it, I wouldn't swap.

Click to expand...

Amen to that! I just showed it to a friend and she was in awe, too. All she knows are the new decks they stock in the local shop. I have to admit, I was there once, too, and I'm so happy to have found a home and a deck that will always be with me.

<smile>