Customer Reviews

Golden Tarot of the Renaissance: Estensi Tarot (English and Spanish Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I must say when I first heard about this deck I was unsure as to whether or not to buy it. I'd already been through disappointments with decks based on early tarot. My usual complaint is that the numbered cards are generally not illustrated. When I opened it, however, I found that even the numbered cards were illustrated in gorgeous detail. This deck is based on the "Charles the VI" deck (actually an Italian deck, believed to have been created for the Visconti-Sforza families of the Renaissance). The original deck is one of the few tangible keys we have to tarot's obscure early history, and among the oldest surviving examples of tarot cards, dating from the 1400's. Sadly, only 17 cards remain in the original deck. The artist has filled in the gaps using inspiration from Italian frescos of the same time period. The gold stamping on each card mimics the gold leaf background on the original 17. That said, however, this glistening, ornate little deck is not easy to read with, and I wouldn't recommend it to beginning students. It should be kept in mind that during this time period in Italy, tarot was "played" as a parlor game, or a game of "trumps," so in general the cards are lacking the esoteric symbolism that is found in more modern decks. However, it is an absolutely beautiful deck that is excellent for collectors and those who are fascinated by tarot's early roots.

This is one of the metallic stamped series from the prolific Italian publisher Lo Scarabeo, and true to form, they have done a lovely job. Each card glitters with gold foil highlights or backgrounds, creating a wonderful effect. The deck is based on the now incomplete Tarots of (supposedly) Charles VI of France, and a number of cards had to be artistically recreated. In this recreation, a great job has been done, and a valuable service performed. If you wish to read Tarot with a fully-illustrated early Renaissance-styled deck, you cannot do better than this. The deck is both useful and gorgeous. I liked it so much that after getting one for myself, I bought several others for friends!

As a comment to the previous review I have to say that the "graphic" nature of the illustrations are only a reflection of the style of art at that time ( medieval and renaissance). If you look it up the medieval and renaissance painters frequently depicted blood and sexual content that we aren't use to today. The illustrations are taken from original artwork !This is a wonderfull deck !!

Actually I don't have this deck but I DO have the book "The Tarot Trumps and the Holy Grail" by Margaret Starbird, which includes all the genuine Gringonneur Illustrations, plus various commentary on them.

My point is with reference to the third reveiw (above) which deplores the overtly sexual content of the "Golden Tarot of the Renaissance". In the original Gringonneur deck there were only 2 cards with any such content. "The Devil" and "Judgement". It is quite normal in both cards in most decks today! However a comment about "The Devil":- This IS the one with the "Jockey Pants"!! But it IS one of the genuine (1420-1450 ish) Gringonneur cards!!

The review above was however very useful to me as it showed me that the rest of the cards, the reconstructions may have been authentic to art of the period but were NOT authentic to the Cathar background which Margeret Starbird documents that they have.

As a result I will not be buying this deck but will instead try to get hold of the Gringonneur deck which only contains the original 17 cards. I will also get at least one Visconti Sforza Deck and a Mantegna Deck, which seem to be the most comparable to the original Gringonneur Deck.

Thanks to the reviewer above:- It did help in a round about kind of way.

I am a collector who on occasion does readings. This is a gorgeous deck with fabulous artwork & much gold on each card in the deck. I doubt I will use this deck to do readings much IF ever, but it is certainly a
magnificent addition to my growing collection of tarot cards!
The booklet which accompanies the cards is nothing special to be sure!

Okay. I am not concerned with authenticity as long as the deck works for me. I have a special liking for traditional pictures like Tarot Classics, however when the minors are not drawn, I cannot use it. This fits my liking with traditional pictures and drawn minors, even more the gold on it is truly stunning, making me stare at the picture longer and is more intuitive. For the personality of the deck, it is quite welcoming, but the readings are quite scattered (altho they are quite accurate too) and the angle of view is a bit different from other decks. For me, if I want extra information which is often neglected,this is the deck to go for. But this cannot be a primary deck for me. But I like it very much, because a unique deck is quite hard to find.

The small and confusing booklet included with this deck is misleading. It would have us believe this is an exact copy of an original deck from the 14th century. A quick visit to the Encyclopedia of Tarot is enough to confirm no such complete deck existed.
This deck lacks both depth and subtlety that are the hallmark of a worthy Tarot deck. The Tarot is an existential tool for charting both an exoteric and esoteric course through life. The origins are unclear. The most widely held theory is that the wise masters of the early 20th century hid their knowledge from Christian extremists sweeping the continent. This deck mocks the efforts and pains of those masters.
The deck itself is pretty at first glance. There is ornate decoration mimicking gold leaf on most of the cards. The art displays a clear lack of three dimensional depth characteristic of the period. The merits are overshadowed by the overt sexual in innuendo while lacking in any other significant symbology. "Overt...innuendo" would seem to be an oxymoron. One look through this deck would make the point. The artists definitely wanted to insert the sexual influence, but did so in a particularly armature and vulgar fashion. Throughout the deck, we are assaulted with bleeding male genitalia, unidentified yet readily identifiable body parts lying randomly throughout the artistic field. The final blow was a Major Arcana icon in jockey shorts. There is no justification for such display vice selling knock-off decks.
It might make an interesting addition to the collector's storehouse as an example of 21st century capitalism. This deck was clearly published to take advantage of the current resurgence in Tarot interest vice a serious attempt to record spiritual wisdom. Suffice it to say, the serious reader is better off sticking with the gold standard decks like Rider-Waite-Smith or Thoth.