A Comparative Technical Analysis of Tarocchi Cards from the Morgan Library & Museum, the Beinecke Library at Yale, the Accademia Carrara, and the Pinacoteca di Brera
Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 9:30 AM–2:30 PM, EST
Beginning in 2021, conservators, conservation scientists, and curators from the Morgan Library & Museum, Yale University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Center for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage “La Venaria Reale” in Turin, the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, and the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan partnered for a collaborative research project that compared three of the oldest surviving sets of Tarocchi cards. The three sets of cards, known as the Visconti-Sforza deck, split between the Morgan and the Accademia Carrara, the Visconti di Modrone deck at Yale, and the Brera-Brambilla deck at the Pinacoteca di Brera, were made in the middle of the 15th century and have a rich color palette and intricately tooled gilded backgrounds. They have been the subject of endless fascination and many art historical studies but have never been the subject of an in-depth technical analysis. The study day aims to disseminate the findings of the technical analysis and compare the cards’ materials and techniques to better understand how they were created, to place them in the context of contemporary Northern Italian illumination, and to contribute to the ongoing conversation and body of research about their creation.
Tarocchi Virtual Study Day
Session 1
Marie-France Lemay, Paper Conservator, Center for Preservation and Conservation, Yale University Library, New Haven, CT
Introduction
Timothy Young, Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT
A Nimble Introduction to the Game of Tarocchi
Roger S. Wieck, Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Costume in the Cards: Tarocchi Fashion
Letizia Lodi, Curator, Italian Ministry of Culture (MIC), Head of Collections and Director of the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan (Italy)
The Brambilla Tarocchi Cards at the Pinacoteca di Brera: History, Techniques, and the 2012 Exhibition
Paolo Plebani, Curator, Fondazione Accademia Carrara, Bergamo (Italy)
The Baglioni-Colleoni Tarocchi Cards: Collection, Display, and Critical History of the Accademia Carrara Deck
Session 2
Anikó Bezur, Wallace S. Wilson Director of Scientific Research, Technical Studies Laboratory, Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, New Haven, CT
Introduction
Richard Hark, Conservation Scientist, Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, New Haven, CT
Overview of Tarocchi Technical Analysis
Elena Basso, Associate Research Scientist, Department of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;
Silvia A. Centeno, Research Scientist, Department of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;
Federica Pozzi, Head of Scientific Laboratories, Center for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage “La Venaria Reale”, Venaria Reale (Torino), Italy;
Roxanne Radpour, Charles E. Culpeper Fellow, Scientific Research, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.;
Marcie Wiggins, Assistant Conservation Scientist/Diana Luv Chen Fellow, Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, New Haven, CT
Visconti-Sforza Tarocchi Cards in United States and Italian Collections: a Multi-Analytical Study of Materials and Techniques
Session 3
Federica Pozzi, Head of Scientific Laboratories, Center for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage “La Venaria Reale”, Venaria Reale (Torino), Italy
Introduction
Jo Kirby, formerly Senior Scientific Officer (retired), The National Gallery, London
Organic Pigments in 15th-Century Italy
Lydia Aikenhead, Kress Book Conservation Fellow, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, Philadelphia, PA
Marie-France Lemay, Paper Conservator, Center for Preservation and Conservation, Yale University Library, New Haven, CT
Francisco H. Trujillo, Drue Heinz Book Conservator, Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Paper, Pigment, Silver & Gold: the Making of Tarocchi in 15th Century Milan (Part 1)
Thierry Depaulis, President of the International Playing-Card Society, Curator of the exhibition,"Tarot enluminés, chefs d’oeuvre de la Renaissance italiane" (French Playing-Card Museum, Issy-les-Moulineaux, 15 December 2021–13 March 2022)
Copies and Imitations of Visconti Sforza Cards
Lydia Aikenhead, Marie-France Lemay, Francisco H. Trujillo
Paper, Pigment, Silver & Gold: the Making of Tarocchi in 15th Century Milan (Part 2)
Session 4
Q&A