Is anyone familiar with the "I Naibi Di Giovanni Vacchetta" deck?

[lilith_in_tree]

The Queen of Swords is one of my make-or-break cards in a deck and this one was definitely a deciding factor in getting this deck--it's a gruesome scene, to be sure, but I love a Queen that's not afraid to go in there fighting, and clearly this one ain't

 

[shaveling]

This is a beautiful deck, in both the Lo Scarabeo and Il Meneghello forms. And I love the Judith Queen of Swords. But if you're going to use this deck to read for others, you should check out Lee's comments on the King of Coins in his Tarot Passages review. The art on that card could be problematical for someone you're reading for.

 

[elvenstar]

Well, I don't know if that would really be so problematic. It didn't occur to me that the guy is a Jew, just someone making money. Perhaps the fact that he is Jew should be obvious by his appearance? But then that assumes that the person you're reading for is quite well educated in 19th century history of the area, no?

Anyway. I love the Queen who is cooking chickens, she is my favourite court so far

I was only given this deck a few days ago and I'm very happy. It's everything I expected and more. And it reads very well. (I think. I hope. I haven't got feedback on my fist reading yet.)

 

[Le Fanu]

I think the "controversial" Jewish King of Coins card in this deck has been a bit over-stated. I mean, like elvenstar, it didnt occur to me that this card was anti-semitic, or that I should be outraged. And yes, the client would have to be pretty well-versed in history to pick this out (IMO).

It´s one of those instances where, if somebody points it out to us, we can be made aware of it and "taught" to be offended. But in this case, being offended by it didn´t come naturally. Sorry....

 

[Cerulean]

I guess if one wanted historical information

As the deck was made in Turin by Vacchetta in 1893:

http://www.torinoebraica.it/EN/comunita.php

That is if you were wanting historical background of that community of the time.

Does this affect you negatively for seeing a different opinion of the deck?

I've not seen the deck as negative in my eyes for its description as the reviewer LB has...but people do have different takes on historical decks.

I usually see the scenes as simply decorative of that time and place. I see the Hermit in a rustic shelter, children in old fashioned clothing, the very elaborately dressed Queen of Swords with the beheaded figure in the tent as a design experiment...overall, an interpretation of Bolognese cards with fancy engraving. I see something of 'ye olde European town square' style of Victoriana in the designs.

I wish I had more description of the Vacchetta designs out of curiousity. I don't know if there is anything else in terms of my reaction...

Best wishes,

Cerulean

 

[elvenstar]

Thanks for the link Cerulean! Well, I don't really see it as positive or negative, perhaps a 'stereotype'. I am intrigued to find out more about the historical setting of the deck in general and possible cultural references, contemporary or mythical. Any one got any ideas where I could start? History was never my strongest point.

 

[Kingfish]

Well, being a King of Coins is a complement. He is a master of materialization, not just making money. However, the "yellow" dot on the King, a requirement at the time for Jews to wear in order to indentify themselves (to be "easier" targets for descrimination and a potpourri of abuses ), is all too reminiscent of the Holocaust and the Star of David required to be worn during World War 11.
Anyway, if Vachetta wanted to have a "real" King of Coins, he should have chosen an image of a Medicci or a Visconti. The ruling classes just used Jews to make money for them, then in bad times they could point the finger at the Jews and make them the scapegoat. They are your opressors! Kill them and you'll be free! Perhaps Vachetta was just being whimsical, however, I don't find any allusion to human suffering to be humorous, no matter what the circumstances happen to be or who the victim happens to be. Some of the engravings of the time, which gleefully show Jews being executed by being hung upside down by one foot usually with a dog or dogs, so that dogs would panic and maul the person adding extra pain to the victim, well!!!-------I'd be irrate if it were just dogs!!! It is cruelty that is just incomprehensible to me. I've heard that the image of the "hanged man" may have been based on this practice. The thought of it just turns my stomach. Leaves me with a real yucky feeling.

 

[Nemia]

You can see he is Jewish because he wears the rota, the wheel shaped badge.

Historically, Jews were pushed into banking and money since many other professions were closed to them. I think this deck reflects European history, and the associations of Jews-money is unfortunately part of it (unfortunately because Jews were stigmatized, exploited etc because of this link to money). Anti-semitic imagery often uses this connection to show Jews as greedy.

In this deck, I don't see the image of this king as anti-semitic; he and the queen are working and creating things of value which then turns into money. And the King of Coins is a strong and positive figure in the tarot. It's not as though Vacchetti had chosen a Jewish stereotype to depict a strongly negative figure. In the Cosmic, isn't Clark Gable or Sean Connery the King of Coins? Not a bad card at all to appear.

The Queen of Swords btw is Jewish, too, from the Apocryphal books: Judith, the woman from Judaea, whose iconography sometimes makes her appear as female version of David vs Goliath.

So although I'm sensitive to stereotypical depictions of all kinds, I'm fine with this historical deck.

 

[FLizarraga]

FWIW, there is a Spanish edition of the Vachetta under its own name, El Tarot Renacentista de Giovanni Vachetta (The Renaissance Tarot of Giovanni Vachetta), published by Editorial Sirio, Spain.

It's colorized differently than the Lo Scarabeo one, and equally hard to find --I got mine on eBay, if I remember correctly, but I see it's available on Spain's biggest bookstore, Casa del Libro: http://www.casadellibro.com/libro-t...a-estuche-libro--cartas/9788478088522/2014062.

It comes in a set with a book I haven't bothered with after a quick skim. Non-Spanish readers need not torture themselves about not being able to read it. (I have a feeling that Julian M. White, whose name appears on Sirio's Tarot books and nowhere else, doesn't even exist.) The colors are soothing, unobtrusive pastels --nothing to write home about, but not too bad. The font on the card titles, though. It's not exactly ugly, but... I don't know how to describe it, except that it bothered me enormously, so I ended up trimming it away.

 

[illyria]

The LoS and Meneghello versions are beautiful in different ways.

The LoS deck I was able to procure immediately, and the brightness of the colors were very attractive to me. I did trim off the green borders because I felt they clashed horribly with the images. That left an off-center image for the cardbacks, though.

Now, the Meneghello deck. That felt so much more historical.