Customer Reviews

Visconti Sforza Tarot Cards

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

 

 

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.

This is the Visconti Sforza Tarot... the most "complete" FAITHFULL reproduction of the original deck cards that started in the Milan during the last years of 15th century...but let me talk about the cards.78 cards...4 missing...the devil, tower, knight of coins and 3rd of swords...since originally they were missing from the visconti collection. the cards are a large size. so its hard to shuffle. i personally think it's great that it does not have titles...because it maintains that authentic look. this deck is great because it sets the modern fallacies that modern tarot decks drew away from. such as the hourglass of "Time" card in Visconti and the modern lamp carried by the modern "Hermit" card...other examples go on and on. perfectly preserved... beautiful...the flaw? you CAN distinguish so easily the "missing" cards from the original 74...and I wished that the artistry has made it more faithful in color and look. and this is NOT the meneghello edition...which has a better reproduction of the 4 "missing" cards if you ask me. but it's great anyway. and there is NO back design...just plain reddish/marroon! How boring! why is it gettng four stars? BECAUSE! flaw in colors of the "missing" cards...too big of a size (I wish they resized it smaller) and the "plain" back design. get it anyway, it's a great deck.

This is the one and only as far as original images are concerned.
This would be the prototype of many others to come. I recently aquired this deck in its 2nd printing dated 1975. I absolutely love it, as it is the almost forgotten deck of so many modern ones! All others are launched from this one. I imagine many of the faces depicted here were actual individuals who lived during the Renaissance. Especially the court cards.

This deck is a must for serious collectors, readers and students of this wonderful art. It carries with it an eerie, from another time feel that should be experienced on its own. The sum of all Tarot decks is carried within. The "vibes" alone give it this supernatural effect that acts as a time machine.

There are no frills here. The cards themselves are large and difficult to handle. The backs are a simple dull red. The missing cards restored are obviously another artists interpretaions. All of the minors are not illustrated. Most readers should begin elsewhere. Nowadays, there are many places to start. Serious, advanced student should all be required to have a copy of this deck in their collection.

The other decks that mimic this one fall short. Lo Scarabeo published one close with gold leaf restored. It has writing on it and shrunk down to standard size-distracting. Also for a fun spin on this classic is The Medieval Scapini Tarot. I list that as one of my favorites.

Now just imagine finding this set of cards in a Milanese castle in a strongbox with other artifacts within. The possibilites are the fuel of novels greater than The Davinci Code...

What a beautiful and mysterious deck this is! I'll start right off by acknowledging that this is not for everyone--It's incredibly large (double the size of your regular deck) and does not lend itself to being shuffled easily. This is strictly for the advanced users, and even then will most likely only used on special occasions. For Medieval Faire mystics, this it the deck to use for that 15th century authenticity.

The cards are stunning! They look aged and have a lot of flecked paint look, but really capture the danger and lost time of the Renaissance. It has replacement cards for the 4 missing, and 6 others that were included that were done by a different artist. Many people have complained about the back of the cards being too plain and maroon in color, but that happens to be my favorite color and it doesn't look at all bad.

I recommend this deck for everyone for art, and as a previous reviewer stated, every serious Tarot student should have this deck.

For Beginners, I recommend these decks: Aquarian Tarot Deck Cards, Rider-Waite Tarot by Waite, A.E..

For another deck like this one: Cary-Yale Visconti Tarocchi Deck

Definitely worth picking it up, just expect to admire the artwork more than use the cards.

What can I say? These are the real thing. Tarot does not get more authentic than this. I have used other modern decks to some success, but I'm a basics kind of guy and this is a basic as you can get.

One of the oldest decks, dating back to the mid 1400's - this is one of Richard's favorite decks. The artwork is very dark and medieval, but quite lovely. Labeled as extraordinary examples of renaissance art, this is much more than a deck of cards.

It's all in the details as the backgrounds of the Court Cards, and the cards in the Major Arcana are all of the same dark colored backing with a gold repeating stamp. When the actual deck is viewed under normal lighting conditions the backgrounds of these cards take on the appearance of gold leaf.

The imagery on the Majors and Courts all have a very surreal three dimensional look that will have you rubbing your finger across them. All 78 cards, including the Pips, have some element of relief, or raised, aspect to them.

There is some of the symbolism here that is present in the Rider/Waite/Smith deck, but only in the Major Arcana and Court Cards. The Minor Arcana are quite spartan, featuring only the number of items from the chosen suit, i.e. six Cups, eight Swords, etc. Justice XI and Strength VIII are reversed in order, becoming Justice VIII and Strength XI.

The arrangement of the items on the Minor Arcana cards might make it difficult for a novice to read reversals, but being able to use this wonderful deck is worth the effort.

Well, first off, the deck was missing a card- the King of Wands. I triple counted and carefully went through each card to make sure it wasn't stuck or just out of sequence, even had my husband go through them and, sure enough, it was missing. As a result, I had to return the item. As far as the deck itself is concerned, I've long searched for one that would give a sense of antiquity to my readings, as most modern decks are a little too cartoonish to be taken seriously (imo). Maybe, this deck is more of a collector's item but my intention was to actually use it. Well, the cards are huge! That's my fault, I should have paid attention to the product's dimensions but I was so exited when I found it, that I skimmed through the reviews, saw that most of them were positive and just went ahead and purchased. The cards are too big for practical purposes, forget about shuffling, and an entire spread could easily take up more than half of the dinning room table (maybe the whole thing if your table is small). Also, the back of the cards are just plain red and, although, I can appreciate that the deck is a reproduction of 74 actual mid-fifteenth century tarocchi cards I personally found the artwork, esp. the colors, to be just a bit disapointing. I want to add I am reviewing the product not the service. The delivery was very prompt, received the order within 3 days.

THE VISCONTI DECK IS MUCH LARGER , THEN THE RIDER -WAITE
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DECK, I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS DECK FOR SEASONED READERS.