I have a limited edition copy, published by Solleone in 1981, of an 1835 Italian Soprafino deck engraved by Carlo Della Rocca. Lo Scarabeo published their own edition of this deck as the "Classical Tarots." The "Ancient Italian Tarot," also published by Lo Scarabeo, is an 1880 deck based on the earlier Della Rocca deck. The artwork is pretty much the same for both the 1835 and the 1880 decks, although the Della Rocca deck is supposed to be more finely engraved than the 1880 version. If you're interested in the Ancient Italian Tarot, you might also want to check out the Classical Tarots. There is an excellent comparative review of the two decks at Tarot Passages:
http://www.tarotpassages.com/ancientclassicallb.htm
For "classical" decks, I prefer 19th Century Italian decks to Marseille decks. I love the finer engraving and the greater artistic license in the Italian decks, and I agree that they are also much more expressive and full of character. I think the Ancient Italian Tarot would be an excellent choice.
I have another Lo Scarabeo reproduction of a 19th Century Italian deck in the mail that I'm eagerly awaiting, the Tarot of the Master. It's a recolored edition of an 1893 deck engraved by Giovanni Vacchetta. The pips in this deck are more varied and have more character than the Carlo Della Rocca pips. If you like the Della Rocca, you might want to check out the Vacchetta as well:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards...of-the-master/
Alan