Tarocchino Milanese
Authentic reproduction of Milan's ancient Tarocchino card game deck.
by Pietro Masenghini
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The record
I like to think of this deck as "Soprafino for Dummies." According to the descriptive card in the deck, "this pack of cards is a faithful reproduction of that which was used for the ancient game of "Tarocchino" as played in Milan and was produced by the firm of P. Masenghini in Bergamo towards the end of the 19th century. The deck has apparently remained in print for use by game players as well as diviners since then. The above description exhausts the English text that comes in the packaging. The designs of the deck are based strongly on the Della Rocca and Dotti Soprafino tarots. In this deck, they have been simplified, apparently to suit them to the needs of a less sophisticated printing technology. The figures are drawn in simple line art. Much of the background of the engraved Soprafino decks has been removed. The cards themselves are "Soprafino" in size, if not in production: they are small and narrow, again to suit the needs of game players. The imagery contained in the deck is largely consistent with the Soprafino decks. This is a good thing for semi-traditionalists like myself, since the iconography, if not the production, is for the most part consistent with the Tarot de
The cards
