Gertrude Moakley

For anyone who can find this book, I definitely recommend it. It's basically a cultural history of this specific deck (considered by some the first) and explores how the different triumphs became what they are - why they would have been significant to Italian society. I loved all the history of the Visconti-Sforza family that was included. The downside? I can't really read Italian or Latin and a lot of that passages in those languages the author chose not to translate, possibly because at show more the time of publication, the 1960s, academics were still expected to know these and more. show less

Ever since I read Gertrude Moakley's essay on Petrarch and the Tarot, I've been excited to read this book. (I briefly discuss her theory and other opinions on the poetic connection here: https://tarotpoetry.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/petrarchs-triumphs/) This book offers more connections between Tarot and literature as well as Tarot and visual arts (paintings, heraldry, etc) to explore.