Ross G Caldwell said:
Unless he can show Louis or François using Filippo Maria Visconti's ducato, there is nothing to his theory (the ducato was not unique to Filippo Maria).
Well, another problem with the Filippo Maria Visconti ducato, according to Andy Pollet's site, is that it is entirely fictitious, such a coin as represented on the Visconti-Modrone deck, a gold ducato with the name Filippo on it, never existed, it is artistic invention. Not only is it not unique to Filippo Maria, such was never even imprinted in the reign of Filippo Maria.
"Quite surprisingly, though, during Filippo Maria's reign only a silver coin (grosso) was stricken, while the gold ducato was first issued by Francesco Sforza. The actual coin featured the same cavalier as the one reproduced in both the aforesaid tarots, but with a more impersonal inscription, DUX MEDIOLANI, "duke (lord) of Milan", as the picture on the right clearly shows. But why such an important coin that Francesco Sforza had issued, and was certainly proud of, in these tarots bore the name of the previous ruler?
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.
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.
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
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.
Andy Pollett also has a section on who painted the cards, which may be of interest to some:
http://it.geocities.com/a_pollett/cards32.htm#author
The fact is, dating by artistic style, or by a suggested painter [of which not all agree with], the significance of fictitious gold ducats, and of visconti-savoy emblematic devices, are all problematic and open to conjecture that various interpretations may date the deck anywhere from c.1428 to say 1529 [when Francis I gave up his claim to Milan].
{I too am unaware of any debate on Betts dating theories, probably they have been dismissed as baseless by the historians, and felt not worth their efforts to refute}
BTW: These next two galleries on Andy's site, featuring a moorish deck c.1400, and a 16th deck printed in a book with sayings and principles in German and Latin [linking cards with emblemata?] are new to me: Have you seen them? They are very interesting:
http://it.geocities.com/a_pollett/cards66.htm
"The cards were not printed as sheets, but as pages, bound together into a book. Besides the illustrations, these pages featured sayings and moral principles in German and Latin.
It is not clear whether the playing cards, whose details are very fancy and accurate, were only used as a pretext for describing the sayings, or were meant to be cut out by the reader, so to obtain a real deck of cards, more or less in the fashion of some modern picture books for making paper models, stencils, etc."
http://it.geocities.com/a_pollett/cards77.htm
Italy 2: A moorish deck c.1400.
Kwaw