Tarot Exhibition - Art and Magic

<body> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="author" content="autorbis@web.de"> <meta http-equiv="pragma" content="cache"> <meta name="robots" content="INDEX,FOLLOW"> <title>Tarot - Arts and Magic - International Exhibition</title> <meta name="description" content="Exhibition of objects of Tarot history"> <meta name="keywords" content="Tarots Tarot Andrea Vitali"> <meta name="creation_date" content="2006-03-03"> <meta name="revisit-after" content="30 days"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://trionfi.com/00/i/textstyle-F1.css"> </head> <body> <table width="150" border="0" summary=""> <tr> <td width="150" align="center" valign="top"> <center><a href="http://autorbis.net" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.trionfi.com/1test/kldreieck.jpg" width="36" height="31" border="0" alt="autorbis.net"></a> <a href="http://trionfi.com/" target="top"><br> <font size="3" face="Garamond, Verdana"><b> Trionfi</b></font></a><br> <br> <hr width="80%"><br><br> <font size="3"> <B>Tarot <br>Art and Magic<br><br> INTERNATIONAL<br>EXHIBITION</b></font><br><br> <font size="3" face="Garamond, Verdana"> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/">Start</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/00/">Introduction</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/01/">Celestial Harmony</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/02/">Allegorical Iconography</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/03/">Divine Hermes</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/04/">Game of Tarots</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/05/">Book of Thot</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/06/">Cartomancy</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/07/">Modern Artists</A><br><br> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/08/">Technical Notes</A> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/09/">Le Tarot</A> <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/tarot-exhibition/10/">Andrea Vitali</A> </td> </tr> </table> <H1><I>Le Tarot presents:</i> Tarots - Art and Magic</h1> <H3>AN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION</h3> <B>under the patronage of<br> Ministry for the Cultural and Environmental Heritage and Foreign Office<br> Protocol no. 16638 dated January 1995<br></b> <Font size="3"><I>LE TAROT</i></FONT> <B>Cultural Trust for Historical Studies and Research</B><br> Stradello Cappuccini 14 - 48018 FAENZA - Italy<br> Tel & Fax +39.546.661143 / cell. +39.335.5619171<br> info@associazioneletarot.it / letarot@virgilio.it<br> <A HREF="www.associazioneletarot.it" target="_blank">www.associazioneletarot.it</A><br><br> "The Tarots: Art and Magic" is one of the most fascinating and original exhibitions about the European cultural heritage, in which hundreds of artistic and cultural artefacts provide a rare opportunity for the visitor to be involved in both fun and magic. It was conceived and planned in 1987 by a committee chaired by Professor Andrea Vitali with the intention of creating the most important exhibition in the world about the culture and art of Tarot cards. It was first seen in Ferrara, and then in other Italian cities; in the future it will also be seen in other countries.<br> The exhibition consists of a large selection of European Tarot cards, together with paintings, engravings, prints, ivories, ceramics, arras, manuscripts, illuminated cards, books and inlaid boxes of great historical and artistic value. Selected by a committee of university lecturers and researchers, the works on show constitute a fascinating survey of art and history from the 15th to the 20th century.<br> The many priceless Tarot cards include "The Tarots of Francesco Sforza" (6 hand-painted cards, 15th C.), "The Dasavatara Cards" (9 ivory cards from India, 17th C.), and original engraved Tarots created by famous contemporary Italian painters such as Franco Gentilini, Renato Guttuso and Lele Luzzati. Other significant exhibits include prints by Dürer, Picard and Goltzius, rare Tarot cards, and illustrated books of French, German, English, Austrian and Spanish esoterism and occultism.<br> The whole exhibition is enhanced by sculptures and scenes based on the iconography of the Tarots. Appropriate illustrative panels and explanations will guide the visitor through the exhibition and render it more readily comprehensible.<br> <H3>Le Tarot <br> - Cultural Trust for Historical Studies and Research</h3> Since 1986, the year of its foundation by Andrea Vitali, medievalist and iconographer, "Le Tarot" has sponsored a project consisting of the study and advancement of subjects which have in the past been wrongly labelled "esoteric". Many scholars and researchers specializing in humanistic doctrines were immediately enthusiastic about this project, including such important representatives of Italian and European culture as:<br><ul> <LI>Giuliana Algeri - Superintendent for Artistic Goods, Mantova <LI>Sandrina Bandera - Superintendent for Artistic Goods, Milan <LI>Giordano Berti - Essayist and expert in the History of the Tarots. <LI>Marco Bertozzi - Professor of Philosophy of History, University of Ferrara <LI>Alain Bougearel - Historian of the tarots, membre of SGDL and SOFIA <LI>Marco Bussagli - Professor of the History of Art, Accademia Belle Arti, Rome <LI>Omar Calabrese - Professor of Visual Communication, University of Siena <LI>Franco Cardini - Professor of Medieval History, University of Florence <LI>Claudia Cieri Via - Professor of Iconology, “La Sapienza” University of Rome. <LI>Gian Paolo Caprettini - Professor of Semiotic. University of Turin <LI>Lorenzo Dattrino - Professor of the History of the Church Fathers, Lateran University, Rome <LI>Thierry Depaulis - President of ACCART <LI>Donatino Domini - Director of Classense Library, Ravenna <LI>Anna Maria Donadoni - Curator of the Egyptian Museum of Turin <LI>Rolando Dondarini - Professor of Medieval History, University of Bologna <LI>Michael Dummett - Professor of Philosophy and Formal Logic, University of Oxford <LI>Giorgio Galli - Professor of History of Political Doctrines, University of Milan <LI>Gian Carlo Garfagnini - Professor of History of Philosophy, University of Florence <LI>Cecilia Gatto Trocchi - Professor of Anthropology, University of Perugia <LI>Alessandro Grossato - History of Eastern Asia institutions, University of Trieste <LI>Enrichetta Leospo - Director of Egyptian Museum of Turin <LI>Massimo Montanari - Professor of Medieval history, University of Bologna <LI>Sergio Noja Noseda - Professor of Arabic language and literature, Catholic University of Milan <LI>Paolo Aldo Rossi - Professor of the History of Scientific Thought, University of Genoa <LI>Paolo Sabbatini Rancidoro - Historian of Hermetic Thought, expert of international relations <LI>Dario Sabbatucci - Professor of the History of Religions, University of Rome <LI>Daniele Seragnoli - Professor of the History of Theatre, University of Ferrara <LI>Ross Sinclair Caldwell - Historian of the tarots <LI>Claudio Widmann - Psychoanalist <LI>Trionfi.com / autorbis.net </ul><br><br> The presentation of the results of this research for a wider audience is an important cultural event, a fact which was underlined by the number of newspaper and magazine reviews the exhibition had received. The series of lectures and conferences is both confirmation of this and a sign of continuing research into the topics dealt with; the relevant publications help to preserve the cultural patrimony which has been created. <br><br> Among the most important exhibitions organized by "Le Tarot" have been: <br><br> <UL> <LI>"Cards at the Court: fun and magic at the court of the Estensi" <br> (Ferrara, Castello Estense, September 1987 - January 1988)<br> This was the most important exhibition of Tarots organized up to the 1980s, <br> created with assistance from the Italian Foreign Office and the Cultural <br> Heritage Ministry.<br><br> <li>"Tarots, the cards of destiny" <br> (Venice, Ateneo San Basso, Piazza San Marco, February 1989)<br> Organized on the occasion of the Venice Carnival.<br><br> <li>"From the alphabet of the East to the mysteries of fate" <br> (L'Aquila, Perdonanza Festival, August 1992)<br> <br> <LI>"Tarots: Man, Cosmos, Magic"<br> (Rome, Castel Sant'Angelo National Museum, February-April 1994)<br> Organized with the patronage of the Cultural Heritage Ministry and the <br> Municipality of Rome.<br><br> <li>" Tarots: Art and Magic" <br> (Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, December 1994 - February 1995)<br> Organized with the patronage of the Cultural Heritage Ministry; the main <br> cultural event on Tarots in the international field.<br> <br> <LI>" Tarots: Art and Magic"<br> (Catania, Museo Civico di Castello Ursino, December 1995 - February 1996)<br> Organized with the patronage of the Cultural Heritage Ministry<br><br> <li>"Tarots, the Cards of the Reign" <br> (Tourin, Palazzo Barolo, April 24 - may 25, 1997)<br> <br> <li>"Tarots: Art and Magic"<br> (Siena, Public Palace, December 2005 - January 2006)<br> <H3>Historical introduction </H3> During the Renaissance the "Images of the Ancient Gods" reminded the observer of the classical myths, which were considered symbols of great ethical and moral values. The game of Tarots was born in this period: it is considered to be one of the most extraordinary achievements of Italian Humanism. It reunites the most august representatives of the Greek pantheon with the Christian virtues, allegorical pictures of the human condition and symbols of the most important heavenly bodies. Tarots were a game of memory which included the marvels of the visible and invisible world and gave the players physical, moral and mystical instruction. <br> In fact, the series of cardinal virtues - Strength, Prudence, Justice and Temperance - reflects ethical precepts; the series of human conditions such as the Emperor, the Empress, the Pope, the Fool and the Juggler recalls the hierarchy which enslaves human beings; and the series of planets (Stars, Moon, Sun) refers to the celestial forces which subjugate human beings - and above them the Universe ruled by God. <br> But Tarots soon lost this didactic and moral aspect, which already at the beginning of the 16th century was little understood. They were then considered no more than a game. Consequently the iconography of the figures changed according to the popular tastes of the regions where Tarots were used. <br> Only at the end of the 18th century was the philosophical meaning of Tarots rediscovered, but the new interpreters only took into account their magical and divinatory aspect because they started from wrong premises. <br> A famous article published in 1781 by the freemason and archaeologist A. Court de Gebelin states that "the book of Tooth exists, and its pages are the pictures of the Tarots". A few years later another freemason, Etteilla, began to restore some of these pictures claiming that he knew the game which had been played by the ancient Egyptians. <br> According to Etteilla, the first Tarots represented the mystery of the origin of the Universe, the formulas of various magic rites and the secret of the physical and spiritual evolution of man. Ever since then, the game of Tarots has been linked to the world of magic. In this way the new era of occultist Tarots was introduced, since it was believed that these cards offer more than mere knowledge of the future. The beauty, mysticism and mystery of Tarots have influenced several artistic and philosophical Tarots. One aim of this exhibition is to illustrate all the "messages" that Tarots have evoked in the past and in the contemporary world.<br> <H3>The History of the Tarots - Exhibition Structure</H3> <ul> <LI>1 THE CELESTIAL HARMONY<br> The Mystic Stairs<br> Cosmology and memory Art<br> The game<br> The Triumph game<br> Origin of the numeral cards<br><br> <LI>2 THE ALLEGORICAL ICONOGRAPHY OF THE TRIUMPHS<br> Religious and profane iconography<br><br> <LI>3 THE DIVINE HERMES<br> Magical-Hermetical-Neoplatonist Iconography<br><br> <LI>4 THE GAME OF TAROTS<br><br> <LI>5 THE BOOK OF THOT <br> or the esoteric interpretation of the Tarots<br> The Egyptian Tarot and the Etteilla tradition<br> The Occultist Movement<br><br< <LI>6 TAROTS AND CARTOMANCY<br> The divinatory arts in the History<br< The Cartomancy<br><br> <LI>7 THE TAROTS BY THE MODERN ARTISTS<br><br> <H2>The Exposed Works </H2> The menu to the left leads to the different sections of the exhibition, each containing a list of the presented items and works. With the exception of some reproductions of frescos or other important artistic documents, all the works are exclusively in original. It deals with miniated cards of the XV th century, hand painted papers of the following centuries, engravings of famous authors as Dürer, Goltzius, Picard, books from the 16th - 17th and 18th centuries, illustrated with beautiful flood figures page, manuscripts, ivories, ceramics and tapestries, ancient inlaid or lacquer game boxes, and original works of famous contemporary artists such as Franco Gentilini and Renato Guttuso. <br> This list is however subject to further additions, since there are always new objects and works of art to enlarge the exhibition. The exposition path is underlined by the presence of important scenographies of symbolic meaning. There are also illustrated panels for every section and explanations for every single piece, to drive the visitor and to give a very clear vision of the contents of the exposition. <br> According to the available space a choice of the more prestigious and representative material will be effected. (use the menu to te left to reach the different chapters) </body>