The imagery is so very intense, so filled with arcane symbols and references to alchemy, astrology, mythology, history and the occult. I felt as if I had come into possession of a box of ancient secrets.
Take the trumps for example. There are 22 of them, numbered 0 to 21 just like in tarot decks we are familiar with. But the similarity ends there. There are no hermits, or chariots or towers. But we do have Ipeo, Deo Tauro and Nenbroto who bear a slight resemblance, but whose numbering won’t always provide any clear connection to the more familiar icons of tarot.
- XVII Ipeo
- VII Deo Tauro
- XX Nenbroto
And then there are the minors or pips. The Sola Busca is considered to be the first known tarot deck that illustrates these cards in the way we are now very used to seeing, with characters and objects depicting an allegorical or archetypal scene of some sort. However in Renaissance times this was entirely unknown in the world of tarot decks whose original purpose was probably gaming and thus required only the correct number of Swords, or Cups etc. to be shown. Scenes such as these depicted on cards would have been considered innovative or possibly mad, or blasphemous…that is, if anyone outside the family had seen them.
The facts surrounding the deck are a little sketchy and continuous interest and research are always turning up new information. A few things though are generally agreed on by experts:
- The Sola Busca is considered to be the oldest complete tarot deck in existence.
- It was the first deck produced using copperplate engraving, a technique that accounts for it’s quality and fine detail.
- It is believed to have been commissioned in the late 15th century by a powerful Venetian family.
- It was kept in the family or at least close, for about 5 generations and is named for the last family known to have held it, the Marquise Antoinette Busca and her husband, Count Andrea Sola-Cabiati.
- It was likely not seen by any outsiders and eventually it disappeared and did not reappear for 800 years.
Giordano Berti, tarot historian and preservationist and co-creator of many modern decks as well as writer, historian and teacher of Esotericism in Art is considered one of the world’s experts on the Sola Busca.
He generously agreed to share a bit of his knowledge with us here at Cult of Tarot. Like the deck itself, Giordano's answers tend to raise even more questions so be prepared to get sent down a google rabbit-hole after reading this that you may not emerge from the same as you went in!
Giordano, I want to thank you so much for going on this journey of the Sola Busca Tarot with us.
JM: Can you tell us a bit about who the Sola Busca was originally created for? Did they have special occult beliefs or practices that influenced the design of the deck?
GB: There is no doubt that the person, or people, who conceived the Sola Busca tarot had esoteric knowledge. This fact is shown by many figures that represent scenes of alchemy and theurgy.
JM: One of the first things that sets the Sola Busca apart from other historical Tarot decks is that, unlike other renaissance era decks, it makes no direct references to Christianity. There are no Popes or Popesses, no Christian symbols, no virtues, no Devil, no Judgment, none of it. Rather we have historical figures, peasants, lots of babies and mythical creatures, alchemical symbols and astrology.
Wasn’t that a bit unusual, even risky in those days to disregard religious symbols in favor of the secular and the occult?
- Alexander King of Swords
- 9 of Discs
- nabudchodenasor
GB: There were some decades, between 1460 and 1500, in which Italian culture was fascinated by the rediscovery of hermetic and platonic texts, which as it is known were intricacies of theurgical conceptions aimed at building "the divine Man". Among the greatest exponents of that culture we should mention the Catholic priest Marsilio Ficino, translator of the Hermeticum corpus, and the philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, author of the Conclusiones cabalisticae. The esteem for the great egyptian magician Hermes Trismegistus was enormous, so much so that, around 1490, at the entrance to the Cathedral of Siene, a carved stone was placed with the image of Hermes together with Moses.
JM: The Trump cards are each named for the figures which appear on them (Nero, Cato, Falco, etc.) and the court cards are comprised entirely of key figures from the life and times of Alexander the Great.
I have read that these figures are a kind of “red herring” and that the real meanings of the cards are hidden in the alchemical and other occult symbols found throughout the deck.
What is your opinion of the significance of these historical figures to the Sola Busca?
GB: According to recent studies, the names of some of the characters portrayed on the cards are referable to people who actually lived, at the end of the fifteenth century. These characters were all linked, directly or indirectly, to Ludovico Lazzarelli, a hermetist of San Severino Marche. For this reason someone speculates that the Tarot Sola Busca were designed by Lazzarelli.
I am in the opinion that, following this line of research, one will come to discover other characters of the era of Lazzarelli, depicted allegorically in the Triumphs or in the Court Cards.
some court cards
- Elena: Queen of Discs
- Lucio Cecilio: King of Amphorae
- Polisena: Queen of Amphorae
some trumps
- VIII Nero
- XIII Cato
- VIIII Falco
JM: Nearly all of the pip cards contain a human figure, and most of them appear to be peasants. Babies and small children are all winged and most of the adults are engaged in some kind of toil. Most are naked or in tatters. Some are almost grotesque.
In contrast to the wealth and beauty displayed on the Trump and Court Cards, is this a reflection of Renaissance class distinctions and/or do you think it lends some extra meaning to the pips?
GB: I am sure that the numeral cards have no relation with the class differences in the Renaissance period. In fact, in many of these images the link with alchemical tradition is absolutely clear.
- 2 of Swords
- 3 of Discs
- 5 of Clubs
- 4 of Amphorae
- 4 of Discs
- 4 of clubs
JM: I want to look now at the alchemical allegories in the cards. Maybe the best way to do that Giordano, would be if you could choose some cards from the deck and help us understand what we are seeing.
GB: For example, the Eight of Discs alludes to the Nigredo, a phase that expresses the symbolic death of the alchemist, waiting for his rebirth with a new psyche, free of all the waste that had accumulated over time.
The Seven of Discs is an obvious reference to the Rubedo, and to the fixation of Mercury following the cooking into a furnace named Atanor. The phase of Rubedo expresses the fixation of the new personality of the alchemist.
- The symbolic Death of the Alchemist
- The new personality of the Alchemist
JM: Do you think the Sola Busca has influenced the development of Tarot art?
GB: Absolutely not! The Sola Busca Tarot is an absolutely unique artwork. Unlike the Tarocchi Visconti-Sforza, from which the Tarot of Marseilles were born, the Sola Busca remained hidden for centuries precisely because it was created for a limited number of people. Only after the deck was shown in public, in the early twentieth century, someone took inspiration from some cards to create his deck: I'm talking about Arthur Edward Waite.
JM: The limited edition Wolfgang Mayer reprint (of which I am the proud owner of deck number 537) has long been considered the most faithful reprint of the Sola Busca Tarot retaining the original size and, astoundingly, the original colors.
What is the status on availability of this edition and of the Sola Busca in general?
GB: The edition of Wolfgang Mayer, produced in Germany in 1998, is still today perhaps the most beautiful version, due to its faithfulness to original colors and dimensions. The only fault is the white back. Personally I own some specimens, all with the warranty card signed and numbered by Mayer. I hold them for the most demanding collectors. In 2016 I personally followed the reprint for Renaissance Italian Style Art, starting with the Mayer edition, trying to keep the colors unaltered and printing the back with the marbled red typical of the original deck.
- My certificate, deck number 537
JM: Are there any books or materials, websites etc. you could recommend for people who want to learn more about the Sola Busca?
GB: The best website is: solabuscatarot1998mayer.wordpress.com .
The best books are: Ancient enlightened Tarot. Alchemy in Sola-Busca Tarot(Stamford 1998) by Sofia Di Vincenzo; Il Segreto dei Segreti (Milano, 2012) by Laura Paola Gnaccolini; The Game of Saturn (London 2016), by Peter Mark Adams.
I'm also writing a new study on Sola Busca Tarot, but I don't know when it will be available.
JM: One last question Giordano, do you have a favorite card?
GB: I do not have any favorite cards. I consider the value and meaning of a work as a whole, not for a single detail. This concept holds, from my point of view, for all the Tarot decks.
If we use the Sola Busca Tarot as a manual to elevate oneself to the dimension of "Divine Man", according to the thought of Ludovico Lazzarelli, it is necessary to give value to every single phase of the path, because each step is necessary to reach the top of the stairway.
On that very poetic note, I want to again thank Giordano Berti for his insights into this most fascinating deck.
As I said at the top, this interview has raised even more questions than it answered and such is the pursuit of understanding the Sola Busca Tarot.
