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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards TAROCHI FINI DI FRANCESCO BERTI IN BOLOGNA late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
The complete pack of 78 cards printed and hand-colored in Bolgona at the end of the 17th century was transferred from the British Library to the British Museum in 1864 (how or when it came to the British Library is not divulged and probably not known). For preservation purposes these individual cards were mounted so as to display both fronts and backs, then bound at the British Museum into the small leather-covered volume seen here. This object carries an interesting suggestion of a message – the 17th-century school of Bolognese oil painting and fresco was surely among the most refined and influential in the world, yet also in Bologna and simultaneously these harsh, stiff, seductive little images from the Middle Ages remained in active production. In their thousands they put bread on the table for Francesco Berti and his family, even though relatively few examples have survived to the present. The openings below display on the left the back of the previous card, and on the right the face of the succeeding card.
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna L'AMOUREUX late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna LA JUSTICE late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna LA IMPERATRICE late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna LE EMPEREUR late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna REINE DE COUPES late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna ROY DE COUPES late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna CHEVALIER DE COUPES late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna LE DIABLE late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna LA LUNE late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna LA TEMPERANCE late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna LE PENDU late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna ROUE DE FORTUNE late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |
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| Francesco Berti Pack of Tarot cards printed in Bologna CARTE FINE late 17th century hand-colored woodcuts British Museum |