The Visconti-Sforza Tarot is used collectively to refer to incomplete sets of approximately 15 decks from the middle of the 15th century, now located in various museums, libraries, and private collections around the world. No complete deck has survived; rather, some collections boast a few face cards, while some consist of a single card. They are the oldest surviving tarot cards and date back to a period when tarot was still called Trionfi ("triumphs"[1] i.e. trump) cards, and used for everyday playing.[2][3] They were commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and by his successor and son-in-law Francesco Sforza. They had a significant impact on the visual composition, card numbering and interpretation of modern decks.[4]
- ^ autorbis. "Oldest Tarot Cards. Origin of Tarot. Research of the history of Tarot".
- ^ Emily E. Auger. Tarot and Other Meditation Decks: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Typology, McFarland, 2003, ISBN 0-7864-1674-2, ISBN 978-0-7864-1674-5, pages 145, 164, 195, 212-3.
- ^ Giordano Berti & Tiberio Gonard. Visconti-tarot. Buch und Karten.: Das älteste Tarot der Welt., Königsfurt Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-933939-11-9, ISBN 978-3-933939-11-1, 120 pages.
- ^ Sandra A. Thomson. Pictures from the Heart: A Tarot Dictionary, St. Martin's Griffin, 2003, ISBN 0-312-29128-0, ISBN 978-0-312-29128-0, 544 pages.