Influence of local taste on Tarot de Marseille: A double-headed Tarot

Case : 180

In the early 18th century, Tarot de Marseille was introduced in Northern Italy starting from the Kingdom of Sardinia which also included the Savoy (in France), and the Piedmont (in Italy). Around 1820, some manufacturers in Turin, began to produce Tarot decks in Marseille's pattern, with captions in Italian and small variations in certain figures, for example, the Fool was not chased by a wild animal but with a butterfly. In a few decades, was consolidated the iconography of the Piedmontese Tarot, which therefore must be considered as a derivation of the Tarot de Marseille. It is currently the most widely used tarot deck in Italy. Around 1835, Carlo Della Rocca of Milan engraved an elaborate interpretation of the Marseille pattern. It became popular throughout Lombardy for the duration of the 19th century. It spread to Piedmont where a double-ended version was adapted to local tastes and was popular in Italia until the 1950s.