Visconti Sforza Tarocchi Deck (Vs 78)

Very nice cards

Hello. I became very happy, when I looked into the deck.So I'm very pleased, about it.And also the people around me,where thrilled.

There are so many "medieval" tarot decks available now, but almost all of them are unconvincing modern interpretations. This deck is the real thing, a genuine facsimile of one of the earliest known decks. Tooled gilt backgrounds and hauntingly sparse and beautiful pictures make this deck a joy to use. I would only recommend it for advanced readers, though, as the Minor Arcana consists of the Suit symbols only, with no pictures to signify the cards meanings.

I found the cards perfectly acceptable but surprisingly large. (Amazon helpfully give the box's dimensions on their website, but in centimetres and I still think in inches.)The booklet contains interesting information about the Visconti family, the pictures on the cards and the surviving packs produced in 15th century Lombardy. However, in other respects, it is very unsatisfactory. The cards were made for playing games and produced some 300 years before tarot cards were used for cartomancy (or, to be more accurate, 300 years before any surviving documentary evidence for such use). Despite this, the booklet gives no details of the games played, but instead, and quite anachronistically, provides extensive information about the cards' alleged divinatory meaning and refers to the trumps and the fool as the arcana.Unfortunately, Stuart Kaplan makes a number of basic mistakes, and I am not sure how far he can be relied upon. In particular, he appears to have been ignorant of the fact that the cups and coins were ranked - from highest to lowest - R, D, C, F, A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Equally surprisingly, he wrongly gives the Italian for the queen as Dama. It should be Donna, as for example appears on the Tarocco Piemontese. At one point he talks about the "22 trump cards", apparently unaware that il Matto was not a trump. There are also problems over the ordering of the trumps, but Mr Kaplan omits nearly all the relevant facts (including the ordering given by Susio) and just relies on the numbering of the trumps on a pack produced 100 years later in another country. However this last point may simply reflect the fact that the booklet was written 40 years ago and needs updating.

I'm really disappointed with this version of Visconti-Sforza...Сards quality is no good. The colours of pictures and background color...pfff....((The Devil and the Tower -- are the worst (this version of them) to replace the missing, these two cards in original deck.

What you get here is actually somewhat simpler than what is maybe suggested by the price. What you get is normal playing card stock, with plain cut edges, nothing else, though the cards are large which account for some of the cost I guess. This is also probably a low volume item, so some cost is justified by that too.Anyway, what you then get, on the cards, is a simple, printed, rasterized photo-reproduction of what the Pierpoint Morgan deck looks like today (faded & brown colors), + recreations of the 4 missing cards in the same style. Nothing else. I would not call this a facsimile.If you're interested in Tarot cards, and card history, some kind of copy like this is nice to have in your collection for reference, browsing and conversation piece. And perhaps, seen in that light, it shouldn't be featuring advanced attempts at recreating/restoring the original appearance. And perhaps it doesn't need to be fancier than this.Personally, I'm satisfied and fine with these. As reference. Not as collector item. And I'm not delighted. So only 3 stars.

Further to the previous reviews for this item, there is a gold-foiled version of the Visconti-Sforza deck - restored by A.A. Atanassov - and produced by La Scarabeo, an Italian company that specialises in Tarot. Have a look online - the La Scarabeo version is available for £16.99 plus P&P.

I'd just like to point out that this deck is *not* 'gilded' or metallic in any way -there's no gold leaf or foil or whatever on it. I bought this deck on the basis of one of the other reviews here, which indicated that it was! Needless to say I was a bit peeved when the cards turned out to be just photographic repros of the original Visconti deck - maybe I'm just picky.Backing is a rather alarming plain red, which makes them look a bit cheap too.The booklet is a great feature, written by Stuart Kaplan who is a well-known and highly regarded expert in this field.They are a very good size (roughly 5"x3"ish - presumably full size, tho' I've never seen the originals) which means that you get a good look at all the details. If you're one of those people that likes to whip their cards out at parties and do readings they can be a tad unwieldy.A reproduction Visconti deck is definitely a must - but being a lover of the flashy things in life I'd have preferred a decent 'back' and some gold leaf.

The media could not be loaded.  Esse deck é uma reprodução perfeita das cartas originais (coloquei foto comparando uma das cartas com a original, que está no Museu) , estilo dos decks do Il Meneghello, sem restauração, vem inclusive com o desgaste do tempo e os furinhos em cima da carta ( imagina-se que em algum momento as originais foram penduradas em preguinhos). Esclarecimento: Os furos nesse deck aparecem impressos, a carta não é furada de verdade, ver foto em close da Morte. Pra quem procura autenticidade, esse deck funciona bem. As cartas são grandes, pq as originais eram desse tamanho.O deck original possui 74 arcanos sobreviventes das supostas 78 cartas originais (faltam a Torre, o Diabo, 3 de Espadas e o Cavaleiro de Moedas). Então cada editora que reproduz o deck contrata artistas pra criarem essas cartas que faltam. Tirei foto do Diabo e Torre desse deck. (Esse diabo é meu preferido). As cartas NÃO possuem verniz dourado, são laminadas como outros decks de tarot, mas essa laminação vai mais pro lado do fosco/levemente acetinado. Ainda assim é muito bom, pq vc consegue ver bem todos os detalhes

Me ha gustado mucho.

The cards arrived well before the projected delivery date.Cards are beautiful and good quality card stock.I'd definitely recommend this product.

PERFETTO.

Dieses Visconti-Sforza Tarot ist sehr, sehr schön und hat, da Faksimileausgabe, eine ganz besondere Ausstrahlung. Wer sich mit der Renaissance beschäftigt, bekommt hier einen Eindruck über ganz einzigartige Tarotkarten, den ältesten überhaupt. Die Karten sind in dem Büchlein (in englischer Sprache) ist sehr gut interpretiert. Ein wertvolles Deck.