Iconography of Motifs comparable to Tarot Cards

This is in the moment a rough collection to Motifs, which are somehow near to Tarot cards, but - which are not Tarot motifs, at least not part of the socalled "standard Tarot".

There are lots of motifs, which fulfill this condition. If we take for instance the socalled Mantegna-Tarocchi, we find, that just 6 motifs have a real representative in the normal Tarot iconography, the other 44 motifs are different. The Sola-Busca Tarocchi uses very different figures, only the Matto - with some goodwill - is represented in normal Tarot.

The renaissance - especially in the late 15th and early 16th century - loved allegoric figures. It's a rich field for iconographical research and the collection, that we present in the moment, is very incomplete and just a begin.

Occasio, the good opportunity or the luck of the right moment - here our start motif - is very similar to the Tarot card World, but also she has elements of Fortuna, Tarot card Nr. 10. She was loved by printers.

Occasio, rare Allegory

The Occasio, the allegory or goddess of the good opportunity seems to have been a loved figure for German printers. In her iconography she is near to the Tarotcard "world" and could be wrongly interpreted.
She is always naked (presenting just the "good opportunity" with a sexual association?). Her hair is long aforehead and cut off at the back side, showing her two faces (reminding that way Prudentia), urging to meet the right decision. In her hand she has a razorknife, which seems to be responsible for the shortened hair at the backside. A long piece of cloth is around her. She has wings at her feets, with which she can excape easily. She's standing at a ball, like it is known on the Tarotcard "World", occasionally on a wheel (by this she is associated to Fortuna).
The Occasio seems to be a mixed creature by elements of Fortuna, World and Prudentia, a little bit ("winged feet") also Mercury. Some say, that she is blind, as luck is blind. Probably she was a figure invented during German Humanism, her being chosen by printers as favoured object, might express, that printers in that time had chosen a new job (they had taken the good opportunity and were lucky with that decision).

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5 pictures with Occasios of the printer Cratander.
A 6th picture shows a Fortuna variation with some similarities.
Andreas Cratander (also Hartmann) used her in various forms as his printer signet. His location was Basel, and his printing phase was between 1518-36, before having minor occupationsin the same business. He printed first in partnership, later alone. The different pictures of Occasio were done by various artistss, some of them with some fame.

The symbol - beside others - was also used by Eucharius Cervicornus (The Occasio is standing on a wheel, the feets are winged, with knife, naked, and the hair completely hides the face). He printed 1515 - 1547, mostly in Cologne. The picture is from 1517. (no pictures)

Nicolaus Basse, active in Frankfurt from 1562 - 1599, uses her variously. She's standing on a wheel, all other attributes accompany her. In the backgrounds are ships, probably indicating, that investments in ships had proved successful.(no pictures) In the web are the following examples:

On wheel, small
on ball
This Link tells about the image of Occasio, the image itself shows an interaction between Prudentia and Occasio (Occasio is winged at the shoulders, not at the feet).

The image of Occasio is taken from a work by famous Czech philosopher and pedagogue Johan Amos Comenius (Moravia 1592-Amsterdam 1670), the Orbis sensualium pictus (1658). The book contains pictures with text in Latin and the vernacular, and was intended for teaching. Occasio is the Opportunity we must seize before it flies away and vanishes: "Occasioni (quae, fronte capillata sed vertice calva, ad hoc alata facile elabitur) attendit captatque eam", or, " She watches Opportunity (which, having a forelock but being bald at the back of its head and being winged, escapes easily) and seizes it." "She" is Prudentia, looking at the past with one of her two faces and at the future with the other.

At this picture the standard attributes have partly disappeared, and the razorknife has exchanged into a similar looking filled horn (an earlier symbol for richness). Expressed is a German proverb ("das Glück beim Schopfe packen" - capture the luck at its hairs, whereby "Schopf" is only the upper part of the hair").

In this older English book, including a very nice Occasio, the author obviously doesn't understand the difference between Occasio and Fortuna. The gigantical picture of the Triumphal Chariot of Emperor Maximilian, made about the same time, when 2 of the above noted 3 printers took the signet. An Occasio isn't part of the iconographical program, but an allegory Opportunitas might have filled her position. The used figure doesn't show the details of the common Occasio, but the example demonstrates, that just this time produced new humanistic allegories, probably invoked by the new technologies used in art and the joy for experiment. (autorbis/Huck)