This is my creation of the Tarrocchi Sopraffino, or Tarocco Soprafino, tarot deck created in an Old Treasure Map design. The original deck was commissioned by printer Ferdinand Gumppenberg from the artist/engraver Carlo Dellarocca in 1835. With this tarot deck a new style was born. I decided to retire from creating tarot decks over three years ago now, as I wanted to focus more on my art. However, I found this deck on my computer, that I was working on back in 2021, and decided I really wanted to finish it. I hope you like it.
Dellarocca, a highly regarded Milanese engraver/illustrator, learned his craft from Giuseppe Longhi, a prominent engraver and art professor. In this deck Dellarocca created several unique tarot images that have no precedent in other decks.
- The Bagatto (Magician) is a cobbler standing in front of his work table covered with the tools of his trade. There is a jug of wine on the table, and he holds a glass of wine in his hand.
- The young man in The Lovers stands between his sweetheart and a king who is resting his hand on his shoulder. He is wearing fancy clothes but also a helmet and holding a sword, seemingly torn between following Cupid’s arrow and the call of duty.
- Justice is tilted slightly to her right, as is her sword and scales, plus she has an eye in the center of her collar.
- The Hermit carries a small open flame in a holder instead of a lantern.
- The Strength card is more dramatic than the traditional Tarot de Marseilles image. The woman is straddling the lion with an intense expression on her face. One of her bare feet is pressing down on the lion’s back, and the lion’s front leg is raised, trying to resist her efforts to pry open his jaws.
- The skeleton on the Death card is sweeping up symbols of human pride and vanity like medals, weapons, jewelry, a bishop’s miter, and even an artist’s palette. The card is not named, just simply labeled with the number XIII (Thirteen), avoiding the use of the word Death.
- The Devil card has several symbols commonly associated with him: the trident, ass’s ears, snaky hair, a feathered skirt, clawed feet, monsters, and hellfire.
- The Moon retains the towers and dogs from the TdM, but one of the towers is a lighthouse. The dogs look like they are in a garden along with the boiled lobster on a large silver platter.
- On the Sun card, a young couple is dancing in the garden with the bright sun burning away the last of the clouds.
- The court cards conform to tradition, but they have more individuality and personality than most decks. The tax stamp and Gumppenberg’s and Dellarocca’s names are on the King of Rods (batons, wands) card.
I personally like the image differences offered with this deck, it could definitely add to your interpretation of each card. I recommend that you view all the cards in the deck to make sure that you resonate with this style of historic tarot. You can view a gallery of the entire deck here.
This deck is the usual tarot size of 2.75″ x 4.75″ and is printed on 330gsm superior smooth casino cardstock and comes packaged in a plain white tuck box. I love bringing history back to life so if you are a tarot reader/psychic who appreciates the historical aspect of the tarot, this could be a deck for you.
There is NO booklet with this deck. If you are new to reading the Tarot or to using historic decks there are many websites on the internet that offer free meanings and instructions on how to read the cards. Plus there are many how-to instruction books available on Amazon. As with any deck the more you use your cards the more in tune you become with them and vice versa.
I offer a selection of designs for the back cover of this deck, if you go to Tarot Card Back Designs you are more than welcome to select one of these. Please include the name of the design you would like in the space provided when you place your order. If no custom back is chosen your deck will be printed with the original back cover as shown in the gallery.
I custom make each Tarot Deck as they are ordered so please allow 5 – 7 business days for processing and manufacture. I will send you an email confirmation to let you know when your order has been shipped. Please see our Shipping Informationfor shipping procedure, costs and approximate delivery times.