Master of the E-Series Tarocchi
Italian, active c. 1465
The Sun, plate 44 from Planets and Spheres
INV-1222
Master of the E-Series Tarocchi
Italian, active c. 1465c. 1465
The Sun, plate 44 from Planets and Spheres
Master of the E-Series Tarocchi Italian, active c. 1465 →engravingprint
Date
c. 1465
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 18.5 × 10.5 cm (7 5/16 × 4 3/16 in.); Plate: 18 × 10 cm (7 1/8 × 3 15/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.
These so-called tarot cards were probably used as teaching tools—pamphlets or sets of flashcards— for noblemen or students. They instilled the traditional hierarchies of society and philosophy in five ascending series: Ranks and Conditions of Men, Apollo and the Muses, Arts and Sciences, Planets and Spheres, and Genii and Virtues. Artists also reused figures from these engravings in their art. The tarrochi are sometimes found bound as books, reinforcing their educational content. The Sun, with its curious conjunction of the zodiac’s Scorpio and a falling child, comes from the series Planets and Spheres
Also notable
Works in the same vein
