Through the exquisite artwork of Brian Williams, Renaissance Tarot connects traditional tarot symbology to the splendor of European Renaissance culture and classical mythology. The 22 Major Arcana cards feature the Olympian deities and demi-gods of antiquity. Card titles are in English and Italian. In the booklet, also by classics scholar Brian Williams, each card description identifies both the Greek and Roman deity as well as his related attributes. For example, the Fool is associated with Dionysus/Bacchus and the Magician with Hermes/Mercury. The four suits in the Minor Arcana are represented by four classical myth cycles with an interlocking system of planets, constellations, seasons, and elements. Swords relate to Achilles; Staves to Hercules; Cups to Cupid and Pysche; and Coins to Persephone. The great cities of Renaissance Italy are represented in the court cards. The back design of Renaissance Tarot features a mandala incorporating symbols of the four suits and the four elements. Brian Williams artfully weaves together a rich tapestry of Renaissance imagery.
Specs
- US Games
- Size 2.75" x 5"
- Language EN
- Author Brian Williams
Author
Brian Williams
Brian was one of the greatest contributors to the Tarot community, He left a legacy of wisdom and beauty, as well as a Brian-sized hole in our individual and collective lives. As an artist, a travel guide, an international presence, and as a loved associate, he accomplished much, but it was as a Tarotist that he was able to meld his many gifts and make a lasting contribution that is difficult to match. He was an expert on the Italian Renaissance and its art. Few could rival his actual knowledge, which was not merely drawn from books, but from actually experiencing the art, architecture, and culture from which the Tarot developed. His knowledge of Classical and Renaissance literature also helped inform his knowledge of the Tarot, sine many of its underpinnings derive from these sources. So-called historians and theorists of the Tarot would do well to consult Brian’s works for a clearer, more definitive idea of how the Tarot developed, and what it initially encompassed.
