Ross G Caldwell
Andy said:To play the part of the devil's advocate, we should also remark that Filippo Maria Visconti barely tolerated his second wife Maria of Savoy (a well-known fact): it would have been strange if this whimsical duke had commemorated such an unhappy wedding with a deck of cards.
This refers to the long-held belief that the deck was painted in 1428 to commemorate that wedding. The only basis for that suggestion is the white cross on a red background, which is a symbol of Savoy. However, the near-universal acceptance of Bembo as the painter makes this date impossible, since Bembo could not have been born much earlier than 1420.
Secondly, the white cross on a red field is also the shield of Pavia, and the junior Visconti was always Count of Pavia.
Giuliani Algeri proposed in 1981 (or thereabouts) that the trumps were added to the deck at the marriage of Galeazzo Maria Sforza and Bona of Savoy in 1468. Thus she sees a couple of decades between the manufacture of the two parts of the deck. I'm not sure if she still holds this view (or the view that one of the Zavattari artists made the deck, not Bembo. I don't think the Lancelot of the Lake had been positively identified for Bembo yet then - see Kaplan II, pp. 120-137 for illustrations from this).
Furthermore, the painter who is presently credited as the author of these tarots, in 1428 was still too young to be active (refering here to Bembo), and it would have been even more unlikely for Filippo Maria to have this tarot made for the 10th or 15th anniversary of his wedding.
There is no reason to believe it was made for a wedding at all. This is a persistent myth. Even now you hear 1441 touted as the date for the deck - for Bianca Maria's wedding to Francesco Sforza. All of this really is mere conjecture.
I'll add another one - it was commissioned by Maria of Savoy around 1445. The notion that Filippo Maria "barely tolerated" Maria is also baseless; they lived essentially separate lives, since Filippo was a recluse and Maria the public face of the dynasty, but there is *no direct evidence whatsoever* (only hostile hearsay) that Filippo Maria disliked her.
The reason I say 1445 is because Maria of Savoy had extensive dealings with the Borromeo family (financial and various civic projects), and there is a famous fresco in the Palazzo Borromeo that shows well-to-do people playing what could be taken as triumph cards.
Most elements seem to suggest that the so-called Cary-Yale Visconti tarot was painted while the Sforza family had already seized the duchy of Milan, but at the same time it celebrates only the name and devices of the previous duke, Filippo Maria.
In order to explain this apparently controversial situation, we may think that during his reign, Francesco Sforza may have dedicated a tribute to his predecessor and father-in-law by having two (or maybe more) commemorative tarots painted with Filippo Maria's name and family devices, which were also adopted by the Sforza. In these decks, the recently stricken ducato coin might have been chosen as a source of inspiration for the pips in the suit of Coins, in honour of Francesco Sforza who had issued it.
Seen from the opposite end, the gold coin may have been fictional by the time the tarot was painted, and later on Francesco Sforza, inspired by the knight pattern, may have decided to strike a real one, with a different motto.
But since over six centuries have elapsed, these are (and will probably remain) only conjectures."
end quote from:
http://it.geocities.com/a_pollett/cards31.htm
This is conjecture of course. But while Bianca Maria held her late father in high regard, I doubt Francesco Sforza would have gone to that much trouble. Francesco's son Galeazzo Maria is a much better candidate for commissioning "commemorative" cards, if such is the case, since he really did revel in his Visconti ancestry. Among other things, he paid a lot of attention to Filippo Maria's tomb, as we know from letters in 1475.
To play devil's advocate, if it is feasible that the gold ducat on the Visconti-Modrone was commemorative, in memory of Filippo Maria, it may just as easily have been made as such under Francis I as under Sforza, Francis I's own parents were a Visconti desscendant and Loise of Savoy [and it is feasable as any other explanation, that it is this marriage commemorated on the lovers card as any other], and perhaps in commemorating Filippo also is done so in memory of a previous Union of Visconti-Savoy.
But how feasible are all these conjectures, do you think? Now that you know that the ducato really existed?
Art historians are unanimous that it is mid-15th century. More importantly, is there any proof for any of the conjecture - such as a commemorative coin in Filippo Maria's name issued? Isn't it better to accept the simpler, reasonable explanation, that the cards were painted while Filippo Maria was still alive?
Why create all of this labyrinthine speculation?
Ross