leid

@leidy · 06 Aug 2022

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About Tarot

#history Legend has it that the history of the Tarot dates back to the first decades of the 13th century when merchants from the Mediterranean traveled the extensive Silk Road through China, Persia and Africa, bringing among their belongings the first deck of cards known in the West, called Mamluk. Its origin was Islamic and it was organized into four palos.

During the 15th century, in Europe, playing cards were incorporated a fifth suit: triumphs, which were cards with drawings of flowers or varied scenes that were superior to those of ordinary suits. Their figures were almost the same as what we currently know as the 22 major arcana of the Tarot.

With the addition of triumphs, a new game called Tarocco or Tarocchi was born in Italy, Tarock in Germany and Tarot in France. The first complete deck on record is the beautiful and luxurious Visconti-Sforza Tarot, handmade around 1440 commissioned by the Duke of Milan, where emblematic figures such as The Empress, The Hanged Man or The Magician and almost all the others that make up today's major arcana, with one exception: The Tower and The Devil already appeared. It is not known for sure if they are missing because they were lost or were not yet part of the game.