Tarot de Besançon: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 08:54, 9 September 2024

The Tarot de Besançon, also called the Besançon Tarot,^[1] describes an historical type of Tarot pack used for playing card games that was made in south Germany, France and Switzerland, including the town of Besançon.^[2]

History

The Tarot de Besançon was derived from the older form of the Marseille type, now known as ‘Type-I Tarot de Marseille’,^[3] compared with which it portrays characteristic differences, notably that the Popess (trump II) and the Pope (trump V) are replaced by, respectively, Juno and Jupiter. The earliest cards of this pattern came from Strasbourg in the early 18th century.^[4] During the mid-18th century other sources of manufacture included Colmar, Konstanz, Ulm and Munich, but the majority were manufactured in Alsace. The packs take their name from the eastern French town of Besançon, to which the cardmakers moved their production in the early 19th century. The so-called Tarot de Besançon was superseded in the late 18th century by French-suited tarot packs. The Swiss Tarot pattern, which emerged in Diessenhofen around 1860, was derived from the Tarot de Besançon.^[2]

Description

Typical of card packs of the Besançon type is that the cards traditionally depicting the Papess and the Pope were redesigned to portray the Roman gods, Juno and Jupiter. It is assumed that this renaming took place in order to avoid upsetting religious sensitivities in an area of distribution marked by confessional contrasts.

Other features of the Besançon type compared with the Marseille Tarot are:

Cupid is aiming at the eyes of the lovers.
The face of the Moon appears head on and not in profile.
The world is not depicted dancing, but standing in contrapost.

Known manufacturers of card packs of this type are:

Jean-Baptiste Benois
Suzanne Bernardin
J. Blanche, Besançon^[2]
J. H. Blanck et Tschann
Louis Carey, Strasbourg^[2]
Andreas Benedict Göbl
Arnoult Grimaud
François Héri
Jean Jerger, Besançon^[2]
A. Kirchner, Besançon^[2]
Joseph Krebs, Freiburg^[2]
L. de Laboisse, Strasbourg^[2]
Pierre Lachapele
Nicolas François Laudier, Strasbourg^[2]
Jean Pierre Laurent
Arnoult Lequart
Guillaume Mann, Colmar^[2]
Johann Pelagius Mayer, Constance^[2]
Renault, Besançon^[2]
Bernhard Schaer, Mumlisweil^[2]
Jean Tissot
Wolfgang Weber
Johannes Muller, Schaffhousen
Josef Rauch Miller, Salzburg ^[5]

The Besançon Tarot includes the Tarot 1JJ, which forms its own sub-type (see details in that article), and the Tarot d’Épinal, which also has specific variations in design. It was manufactured around 1830 or 1850 by the cardmaker, Pellerin, in Épinal, the wood engraving comes from François Georgin (1801–1863). Among the features are an additional card with the title, Consultant, which was clearly used as a Significator, which is why it may be assumed that the cards were also used for divinatory purposes and not, like other packs of this type at that time, used exclusively for playing cards.

The pictures below, showing the 22 trump cards, come from a pack with coloured wood carvings produced by Renault from Besançon around 1820–1830. The pack is based on a c. 1800 design by Jean Jerger, also from Besançon.

The Fool
The Magician
Juno
The Lady
The Lord
Jupiter
The Lovers
The Wagon
Justice
The Hermit
The Wheel of Fortune
Power
The Hanged Man
Death
Moderation
The Devil
The Tower
The Star
The Moon
The Sun
Judgement
The World

References

^ Besançon Tarot by Jacob Jerger at wopc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Pattern Sheet 6 - The Tarot de Besançon at the IPCS website. Retrieved 9 Jun 2019.
^ For these two types, see Thierry Depaulis, “The ‘Tarot de Marseille’ – Facts and Fallacies”, The Playing-Card, Vol. 42, no. 1, July-Sept. 2013, pp. 23-43 and Vol. 42, no. 2, Oct.-Dec. 2013, pp. 101-120.
^ Thierry Depaulis, The Cardmakers of Alsace, IPCS, 2023, chapter “The ‘Tarot de Besançon’, an ‘Ecumenical’ Tarot?”, pp.164-174
^ Giordano Berti, "Tarot of Besançon of Josef Rauch Miller", in Tarot in German countries from the 16th to the 18th century, OM Edizioni, Quarto Inferiore 2018, pp. 23-25

Literature

Dummett, Sir Michael (1980). The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City. London: Duckworth.
Graf, Eckhard (1991). Lexikon des Tarot sowie der Orakel- und Selbsterfahrungsspiele. Nagelschmid, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-927913-03-0.
Mann, Sylvia (1990). All Cards on the Table, Jonas Verlag/Deutsches Spielkarten-Museum, Leinfelden-Echterdingen
Rodik, Belinda (2008) Tarot-Lexikon. Grundbegriffe und Schlüsselworte zu Symbolik und Deutung. Schirmer, Darmstadt 2008, ISBN 978-3-89767-612-1, pp 323–346.

[WOPC-1] Besançon Tarot by Jacob Jerger at wopc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2023.

[IPCS-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Pattern Sheet 6 - The Tarot de Besançon at the IPCS website. Retrieved 9 Jun 2019.

[3] For these two types, see Thierry Depaulis, “The ‘Tarot de Marseille’ – Facts and Fallacies”, The Playing-Card, Vol. 42, no. 1, July-Sept. 2013, pp. 23-43 and Vol. 42, no. 2, Oct.-Dec. 2013, pp. 101-120.

[4] Thierry Depaulis, The Cardmakers of Alsace, IPCS, 2023, chapter “The ‘Tarot de Besançon’, an ‘Ecumenical’ Tarot?”, pp.164-174

[5] Giordano Berti, "Tarot of Besançon of Josef Rauch Miller", in Tarot in German countries from the 16th to the 18th century, OM Edizioni, Quarto Inferiore 2018, pp. 23-25

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Type of Tarot playing card deck}}
 [[File:Tarot de Besançon - Renault - Trump 00.jpg|thumb|upright|The Fool in the Besançon pack by Renault (c. 1820)]]
-The '''Tarot de Besançon''',<ref name=IPCS>[https://i-p-c-s.org/pattern/ps-6.html ''Pattern Sheet 6'' - The Tarot de Besançon] at the IPCS website. Retrieved 9 Jun 2019.</ref> also called the '''Besançon Tarot''' or '''Swiss Tarot''', describes a type of [[Tarot cards|Tarot pack]] that was derived from the older forms of the [[Marseille Tarot|Marseille type]], but which portrays characteristic differences.
+The '''Tarot de Besançon''', also called the '''Besançon Tarot''',<ref name=WOPC>[https://www.wopc.co.uk/tarot/besancon-tarot-by-jacob-jerger ''Besançon Tarot by Jacob Jerger''] at wopc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2023.</ref> describes an<!-- no need to change to "a", both forms are correct--> historical type of [[Tarot cards|Tarot pack]] used for playing [[card game]]s that was made in south Germany, France and Switzerland, including the town of [[Besançon]].<ref name=IPCS>[https://i-p-c-s.org/pattern/ps-6.html ''Pattern Sheet 6'' - The Tarot de Besançon] at the IPCS website. Retrieved 9 Jun 2019.</ref>
+== History ==
-Cards of this type were manufactured predominantly in Switzerland in the middle of the 18th century. The packs take their name from the eastern French town of [[Besançon]], to which the cardmakers moved their production in the early 19th century. The cards were not just made in Switzerland or Besançon, but from about 1750 across a wide area including southern France, Switzerland and even south Germany.
+The Tarot de Besançon was derived from the older form of the [[Marseille Tarot|Marseille type]], now known as ‘Type-I Tarot de Marseille’,<ref>For these two types, see [[Thierry Depaulis]], “The ‘Tarot de Marseille’ – Facts and Fallacies”, ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 42, no. 1, July-Sept. 2013, pp. 23-43 and Vol. 42, no. 2, Oct.-Dec. 2013, pp. 101-120.</ref> compared with which it portrays characteristic differences, notably that the Popess (trump II) and the Pope (trump V) are replaced by, respectively, [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] and [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]]. The earliest cards of this pattern came from [[Strasbourg]] in the early 18th century.<ref>Thierry Depaulis, ''The Cardmakers of Alsace'', IPCS, 2023, chapter “The ‘Tarot de Besançon’, an ‘Ecumenical’ Tarot?”, pp.164-174</ref> During the mid-18th century other sources of manufacture included [[Colmar]], [[Konstanz]], [[Ulm]] and [[Munich]], but the majority were manufactured in [[Alsace]]. The packs take their name from the eastern French town of [[Besançon]], to which the cardmakers moved their production in the early 19th century.
+The so-called Tarot de Besançon was superseded in the late 18th century by French-suited tarot packs. The [[Swiss Tarot]] pattern, which emerged in [[Diessenhofen]] around 1860, was derived from the Tarot de Besançon.<ref name=IPCS/>
+== Description ==
 Typical of card packs of the Besançon type is that the cards traditionally depicting the Papess and the Pope were redesigned to portray the Roman gods, [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] and [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]. It is assumed that this renaming took place in order to avoid upsetting religious sensitivities in an area of distribution marked by confessional contrasts.
@@ Line 34: / Line 38: @@
 * Jean Tissot
 * Wolfgang Weber
+* Johannes Muller, Schaffhousen
+* Josef Rauch Miller, Salzburg <ref>Giordano Berti, "Tarot of Besançon of Josef Rauch Miller", in ''Tarot in German countries from the 16th to the 18th century'', OM Edizioni, Quarto Inferiore 2018, pp. 23-25</ref>
-The Besançon Tarot includes the [[Tarot 1JJ]], which forms its own sub-type (see details at that article), and the ''Tarot d’Épinal'', which also has specific variations in design. It was manufactured around 1830 or 1850 by the cardmaker, Pellerin, in [[Épinal]], the wood engraving comes from François Georgin (1801–1863). Among the features are an additional card with the title, ''Consultant'', which was clearly used as a Significator, which is why it may be assumed that the cards were also used for divinatory purposes and not, like other packs of this type at that time, used exclusively for playing cards.
+The Besançon Tarot includes the [[Tarot 1JJ]], which forms its own sub-type (see details in that article), and the ''Tarot d’Épinal'', which also has specific variations in design. It was manufactured around 1830 or 1850 by the cardmaker, Pellerin, in [[Épinal]], the wood engraving comes from François Georgin (1801–1863). Among the features are an additional card with the title, ''Consultant'', which was clearly used as a Significator, which is why it may be assumed that the cards were also used for divinatory purposes and not, like other packs of this type at that time, used exclusively for playing cards.
 The pictures below, showing the 22 trump cards, come from a pack with coloured wood carvings produced by Renault from Besançon around 1820–1830. The pack is based on a c. 1800 design by Jean Jerger, also from Besançon.
@@ Line 67: / Line 73: @@
 == Literature ==
+* [[Dummett, Sir Michael]] (1980). ''The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City''. London: Duckworth.
-* Eckhard Graf: ''Lexikon des Tarot sowie der Orakel- und Selbsterfahrungsspiele.'' Nagelschmid, Stuttgart 1991, {{ISBN|3-927913-03-0}}.
+* Graf, Eckhard (1991). ''Lexikon des Tarot sowie der Orakel- und Selbsterfahrungsspiele.'' Nagelschmid, Stuttgart 1991, {{ISBN|3-927913-03-0}}.
+* Mann, Sylvia (1990). ''All Cards on the Table'', Jonas Verlag/Deutsches Spielkarten-Museum, Leinfelden-Echterdingen
-* Belinda Rodik: ''Tarot-Lexikon. Grundbegriffe und Schlüsselworte zu Symbolik und Deutung.'' Schirmer, Darmstadt 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-89767-612-1}}, pp 323–346.
+* Rodik, Belinda (2008) ''Tarot-Lexikon. Grundbegriffe und Schlüsselworte zu Symbolik und Deutung.'' Schirmer, Darmstadt 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-89767-612-1}}, pp 323–346.
 [[Category:Tarot playing card decks]]