Tarot of the Masters

James Ricklef earned his standing as a tarot writer, Tarot Tells the Tale and its siblings, and the Tarot of the Masters is a teacher's deck in the most literal way: Ricklef rendered the cards from classic masterworks of painting, the old masters' compositions redrawn into the arcana, so art history itself carries the meanings. The archive review leads with his interpretive depth, which is the deck's real engine; every image choice is a reading lesson from someone whose day job is explaining the cards. Master-painting decks succeed on selection, and Ricklef's choices favor narrative clarity over gallery prestige: each card borrows a picture because it teaches the card, not because the painting is famous. It suits students who learn through his books, art-historically minded readers, teachers wanting a deck that explains its own reasoning, and collectors of author-made decks. Readers who want original imagery rather than transformed inheritance should note this deck's whole thesis is that inheritance, well-chosen, is originality.