*LEONARDO da VINCI* Tarot Divination Deck - Lo Scarabeo

You are purchasing ONE DECK of

Since the Tarot is really a product of the Italian Renaissance, it is only appropriate that a Tarot deck be based on the genius of the quintessential Renaissance man: Leonardo Da Vinci. The art is sophisticated in line, colour, composition, and symbolism. Prepare to be intrigued, challenged, and delighted as you explore the depth and beauty of this deck.

The Leonardo da Vinci Tarot is inspired by the works of this great Italian Renaissance artist. Each card features an element from one of his paintings or drawings placed in a tarot context. The High Priestess is the famous Mona Lisa, now with a mitre. The Seven of Wands is a scene from the Battle of Anghiari - a timeless image of the spirit of battle. Each card has the number and name in six languages. On the major arcana cards, the name is also given in Italian in the mirror writing Leonardo used in his notebooks. The deck images are the work of two artists - Iassen Ghiuselev for the majors and Atanas Atanassov for the minors - yet the style is consistent throughout. The instruction booklet gives brief card meanings, but not references for the original artwork.

Paintings by Leonardo were recreated to fit into a tarot mould in a style referred to in the Little White Booklet as "Leonardesque chiaroscuro".

Not only is this a wonderful art deck, but it's a great deck to read with as well.

Leonardo da Vinci Tarot

By Iassen Ghiuselev and Atanas Atanassov
Artwork by Iassen Ghiuselev and Atanas Atanassov

Tarot Deck - 78 Cards - Published by Lo Scarabeo

A new deck from Lo Scarabeo, created in honour of one of the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci. Perhaps most famous for painting the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, he was also an inventor, scientist and military strategist.

The stretch to make a connection between Leonardo and tarot is not too great a leap, as Leonardo may have had contact with tarot cards in his own lifetime. According to the booklet, he had visited the Milanese court of Ludovico da Sforza - famous in the tarot world for commissioning tarot designs that have survived to this day.

A standard tarot in its suits of Chalices, Pentacles, Wands and Swords and 78 cards, it is more unusual in it that two separate artists, both Bulgarians, completed the major and minor arcana. Iassen Ghiuselev originally completed the trumps in 1992, while in 2002 Atanas Atanassov (artist for other tarots like the Bosch Tarots, Golden Tarot of the Tsar, and Visconti Tarot) created the 56 remaining minor arcana cards. Despite the two artists and the ten-year gap, the illustrative style is maintained consistently at a high level.

Leonardo's art was remarkable at the time for its carefully drawn sense of perspective and realism. He was a keenly observant artist and scientist, and drawings of the human body are incredibly well proportioned and lifelike (so much so that they helped doctors to better understand muscle arrangements and bone structure). The card art for the Leonardo da Vinci has been created in the spirit of Leonardo's illustrations and paintings, sometimes directly copying his works, but mostly using them as a source.

Colours are muted olives, khaki, mud brown, greyish blues, reminiscent of Leonardo's sketches. The drawings are spare and super-sharp, almost hyper-real and have a static, posed feel, even in action cards. People's facial features, musculature, and folds of clothing are all very well defined. These cards are very human - people are young, old, infants, naked, fully or partially clothed in either period costume or togas, and always the centre focus of the card. (Unfortunately, the range of human expression and emotion is also very small - most people look dour or impassive and are rarely smiling, even on the Sun card.)

The majors feature Leonardo's masterpieces or scenes inspired by such. They also have the title of the card in Italian script written backwards in the background of the card, just as Leonardo made notes in his own journal. The minor arcana cards are illustrated scenes appropriate to the period, but they also have a pip-like layout of the suit elements in the top right of the card.

These cards can easily be used for reversals. The image on the back of the cards is the woman from the Queen of Wands, cleverly placed so it is upright from both ends. Reversal meanings are also given for the cards in the LWB, though they are typically short for Lo Scarabeo. For example, the majors have: "I. Magician. Willingness. Skill. Diplomacy. Autonomy. Negative: Lie. Social Climbing. Tricks." The minors have even less text, eg: "Wands - 3. Ambush. Conspiracy. Hidden danger. Enemy plotting unseen." The meanings are printed in Italian, Spanish, French and German as well as English.

An art tarot in the truest sense, this is an essential addition to the collection of lovers of the Renaissance and fine art and suitable for the experienced reader.

The nature of the LWB is unique, in that it not only addresses the Tarot, but the life of the artist, Leonardo Da Vinci.

Da Vinci is known primarily as an artist, but he was also an engineer, inventor, and mathematician. He came into this world with many gifts - the undeniable gift of a thirst for knowledge, the gift of physical beauty, and the gift of being able to communicate through many different venues. Coming from a humble beginning, he was apprenticed at the age of fifteen to master artist Andrea del Verrocchio (who taught Botticelli and influenced Michelangelo). Under del Verrocchio, Da Vinci was exposed to a wide range of artistic venues, including painting, metal work, and sculpture.

An interesting note in the LWB is that Da Vinci more than once did not finish a commission. Another interesting note is his appointment as personal engineer and architect to Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan. Sketches in his notebooks from this time include everything from churches to submarines. It is possible that Da Vinci did encounter the Tarot during the eighteen years that he held this appointment.

The aim of the artists connected with this deck was to adapt selected elements from the Master's work with the archetypes, themes and divinatory meaning associated with modern Tarot. This is one way of rediscovering the genius that was (and still is) Da Vinci.

The LWB presents the cards without scans of any kind. Each card is broken down into: Encourages (basically the upright meaning of the card), Cautions against (the reversed, or ill-dignified nature of the card), Illustration notes (notes on the background of the card, where the images were adapted from), Commentary (a short discussion of the nature of the card), and Exploration Questions (questions that can be asked to focus the energy of the card, and how it is appearing in your life).

There is a short section on working with the cards that includes two spreads specific to this deck: The Pentacle Spread, a five card spread inspired by Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" and the Da Vinci inspired Insight and Inspiration Spread, a five card linear spread that focuses on a specific problem or challenge.

The card back shows a depiction of the figure from the Queen of Wands, placed at the right hand corner of the card (on both ends) so that it would not be possible to tell if the card was drawn upright or reversed.

The colours for this deck are very sepia toned - muted olives, browns, and grey/blues. The style is very reminiscent of Da Vinci's style of painting (we have all at least seen the Mona Lisa!): attention to detail (especially the muscular and skeletal detail of his subjects), with clean lines and, at times, a surreal quality.

The Major Arcana feature Da Vinci's masterpieces (or scenes inspired by them), while the Minor Arcana show scenes appropriate to the period, with the suit symbol in the upper right hand corner.

The Fool shows Da Vinci's bat winged flying machine soaring above a castle. Of all the depictions of the Fool, this is the most eerie. The High Priestess is a take off on the Mona Lisa, showing her wearing a crown (following the thought of the Papesse being a female Pope). The Hierophant shows a side view of a Pope sitting next to a window, and is based on Raphael's portrait of Julius II. In the window we see a glyph taken from Da Vinci's plans for an unfinished basilica (representing the "squaring of the circle", or perfection expressed through geometric form).

The Hermit gives an initial impression of a very skeletal person, i.e. perhaps someone who has been a prisoner of war. It is based on Da Vinci's "St. Jerome", who chose to go into the desert in order to translate Scriptures. In an interesting aside, the image has been reversed from the original. The Hanged Man in this deck is interesting, as he is hanging from the neck, with his hands behind his back, and his legs straight down, feet pointing towards the floor. The image comes from Da Vinci's study of the Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli.

The image of Death in this deck, according to the LWB, is an allegorical sketch of Envy, raising her arm to block the gaze of heaven. What is so interesting is that she is kneeling atop one of Da Vinci's inventions - a multi-bladed battle wagon. In her right hand she holds aloft a skull based on one of Da Vinci's anatomical studies. Temperance has been adapted from Da Vinci's "Annunciation". The image here has been reversed from the original, as was that of the Hermit.

The Aces in many decks can be incredibly boring - but that is not the case here. The Ace of Wands shows an image of an unborn child, taken from one of Da Vinci's sketches, seated in a valley, above a town. The Ace of Chalices shows the image of a mother and child, adapted from the "Litta Madona", which, according to the LWB, is questionably attributed to Da Vinci. The Ace of Swords is based on the legend of St. George, and shows a rider, cape flying, seated on a rearing horse with is lance through the dragon. The Ace of Pentacles will be familiar to everyone, as it is based on Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man".

The Five of Chalices is based on one of Da Vinci's male nude studies, and resembles what "The Thinker" might look like in a standing pose. The Four of Swords is adapted from Da Vinci's "St. John The Baptist". His right hand points upward, towards the four swords in the right hand corner of the card. The Seven of Swords is another stunning card. At the bottom of the card we see a horse, with rider, drawing a "weaponised" chariot. In the background we see another chariot that has overturned, with bodies lying on the ground next to it. In the upper right hand corner are seven swords. In essence, this card naturally divides itself into three pictures.

For someone who is interested in the Renaissance period, or someone who is a collector, this is a must have deck. It is a deck that requires some knowledge of Tarot basics to work with, so it would be more appropriate for an experienced reader than for a Tarot novice. While the nudity is appropriate when it appears, this deck would not be acceptable for all audiences. Used with discretion, the Da Vinci Tarot brings with it the great gift of wisdom, and a wonderful opportunity to peek into another time.

The interested art student might find many little hidden treasures and gentle humour in the choices of Leonardo's original art and the tarot card that was matched to it for this deck. Here's a small list of the majors of the 22-card version, also by Lo Scarabeo:
- High Priestess from Mona Lisa
- Empress from Portrait of a Woman
- Hermit from St. Jerome
- Strength from Virgin and Child with St. Anne
- Temperance from Annunciation

And two others:
- Hanged Man is from "Study of A Hanged Man" in 1479 of the assassin of Giuliano de Medici so it is from his time in Florence.
- World is "Leda and the Swan" -- note that this is I. Ghiuselev's 22 card version.

The King of Swords is similar to Head of a Warrior and Queen of Wands is based on Lady with an Ermine. The tarot version has just enough difference in colouring and slight change of perspective, plus the symbol of the suit to make it look different. When comparing majors and minors, you will find that not only Strength is a woman from Virgin and Child from St. Anne, but the Six of Cups is also a detail from the same picture. The Six of Cups is a child playing with a lamb - perhaps the iconographic Baby Jesus. Since the woman is taming a lion and the child is playing with a lamb, the Biblical metaphor about the 'lion and the lamb' and 'child shall lead them' makes for a sweet link between these two cards.

The ordering of the majors is Marseilles-style with Justice being Card Eight of the trumps and Strength being Card Eleven. The meanings are more of Lo Scarabeo's standard traditional meanings rather than the more modern Thoth- or Waite- style depictions.

Visit out Store for similar items.

To enable you to more easily see the complete range of products that we stock, we suggest you visit our Catalogue Page which shows at a glance, in thumbnail format, each of items.  After making your selections, just return to our Store to make your purchase.  If you are having difficulty locating the item you need, try doing a search within our store.
 

To give you confidence in the quality of our work and business etiquette, please read our Feedback Comments and also visit our *About Me* page.

LAY-BY NOW !!

Take advantage of our Lay-By (Lay Away) Terms to pay off that special something.

You can pay a deposit as low as 20% of your total purchases from within the SERPENTINEMOON STORE, with the balance paid in weekly payments adjusted to the time period selected. This applies to both Auction wins as well as *Buy it Now* items.

Also, if you have any requests for items that may have previously been in our Store but that aren't showing in stock at present, we are very happy to arrange a Pre-Order and we'll just treat it as a Lay-by. If that's the case, please contact us directly by email with your requests.


Click here for Full Details and Application Form