Ancient Tarot of Marseilles - CARDS

By Brian Stevenson View Profile
There are many different versions of The Tarot of Marseilles; all of them influenced by the earlier Tarot of Paris. This version was designed by Nicholas Conver in the mid-18th Century. All the cards are printed on an authentic beige background. The colours used are muted primary colours of red, yellow, blue and green. Even though the figures shown are fairly crudely and naively drawn, there is a surprising amount of esoteric information contained in them and it is easy to see why the deck used to be one of Europe's most popular decks. Even though the cards are laminated, they have an evocative 'handmade' appearance and Lo Scarabeo have obviously taken great care when photographing the original cards for reproduction. As the Minor Arcana are not illustrated, I would not recommend this deck to beginners. However, I would definitely advise anyone interested in Tarot history to acquire the deck as it is fascinating to see how these basic images influenced Tarot design in later centuries.