Clio | Spencer Museum of Art

Master of the S-Series Tarocchi, artist

Clio, circa 1470

Portfolio/Series title: The So-Called Tarocchi of Mantegna

Where object was made: Italy

Material/technique: engraving

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 162 x 85 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 6 3/8 x 3 3/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 x 19 in

Credit line: Gift of the Max Kade Foundation

Accession number: 1969.0100

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Conflicting Memories," Oct-2003, Steve Goddard
The so-called Tarocchi Cards were sets of fifty engraved images that describe a ladder of being from the lowest conditions of humanity to philosophical notions of the universe - from the "Beggar" to the "First Cause." Ten cards were allotted to each of five categories: Conditions of Man, Apollo and the Muses, Liberal Arts, Cosmic Principles, and Firmaments of the Universe. The two prints seen here are both from the series of Apollo and the Muses, although they are from two different versions, the so-called E and S series. We do not know for sure how these prints were used. It is possible that they were part of an educational game and were therefore aids in remembering this long symbolic ladder that ran from earth to the heavens.