Current Location: In storage
Titles
IIII / L'IMPERATORE
4 / The Emperor
Maker(s)
Printmaker:
Unknown
Publisher:
Lamperti, L.
Entities
Categories
Description
From a full set of 78 tarot cards of the Piedmont type (Tarocco Piemontese), made in Milan by L. Lamperti. One of 22 trump cards. A hand-coloured woodcut with the backs of the cards folded over the edges of the fronts to form a border that is typical of Italian cards. An unbearded male figure sits on a throne in profile facing left. He wears a crown and holds a sceptre surmounted by an orb in his right hand. Incorporated into the woodcut at the right side of the throne is a coat of arms which is a simplified version of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (1815-1866). The coat of arms features the Iron Crown of Lombardy around the necks of a double-headed eagle carrying in its left talon a sword and sceptre (like the one held by the Emperor) and an orb in its right. The initials at the centre: 'F I', probably refer to Emperor of Austria, Ferdinand I (1793-1875), who was crowned King of Lombardy-Venetia in Milan in 1838. He was the last Emperor to be crowned with the Iron Crown. Printed above and below: IIII; L'IMPERATORE. On the verso is a woodcut printed in red ink and hand-coloured in yellow of a winged female figure holding aloft the Iron Crown of Lombardy, the word, MILANO printed below. The Tarocco pack consists of 78 cards: a trump suit of 22 cards, numbered from 0 to 21, and four 14-card suits of swords (spades), batons (bastoni), cups (coppe), and coins (denari). Each suit has a King (Re), Queen (Regina), Knight (Cavaliere) and Jack or Knave (Fante). There are similar sets in the collection of the British Museum. See: 1904,0511.38.1-78 and 1896,0501.120.
Legal notes
J.E. Foster, M.A., 1872-1912
