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IIII / L'IMPERATORE: P.14630-R(75)

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

IIII / L'IMPERATORE
4 / The Emperor

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Unknown
Publisher: Lamperti, L.

Entities

Categories

Description

From a full set of 78 tarot cards of the Piedmont type (Tarocco Piemontese), made in Milan by L. Lamperti. One of 22 trump cards. A hand-coloured woodcut with the backs of the cards folded over the edges of the fronts to form a border that is typical of Italian cards. An unbearded male figure sits on a throne in profile facing left. He wears a crown and holds a sceptre surmounted by an orb in his right hand. Incorporated into the woodcut at the right side of the throne is a coat of arms which is a simplified version of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (1815-1866). The coat of arms features the Iron Crown of Lombardy around the necks of a double-headed eagle carrying in its left talon a sword and sceptre (like the one held by the Emperor) and an orb in its right. The initials at the centre: 'F I', probably refer to Emperor of Austria, Ferdinand I (1793-1875), who was crowned King of Lombardy-Venetia in Milan in 1838. He was the last Emperor to be crowned with the Iron Crown. Printed above and below: IIII; L'IMPERATORE. On the verso is a woodcut printed in red ink and hand-coloured in yellow of a winged female figure holding aloft the Iron Crown of Lombardy, the word, MILANO printed below. The Tarocco pack consists of 78 cards: a trump suit of 22 cards, numbered from 0 to 21, and four 14-card suits of swords (spades), batons (bastoni), cups (coppe), and coins (denari). Each suit has a King (Re), Queen (Regina), Knight (Cavaliere) and Jack or Knave (Fante). There are similar sets in the collection of the British Museum. See: 1904,0511.38.1-78 and 1896,0501.120.

Legal notes

J.E. Foster, M.A., 1872-1912

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Unknown by Foster, J.E., M.A.

Note

Height 107mm x width 53mm

School or Style

Italian

Techniques used in production

Hand colouring
Woodcut

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.14630-R(75)
Primary reference Number: 224873
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Wednesday 5 September 2018 Updated: Monday 15 January 2024 Last processed: Monday 15 January 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "IIII / L'IMPERATORE" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/224873 Accessed: 2024-11-16 00:41:42

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/224873 |title=IIII / L'IMPERATORE |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-16 00:41:42|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-224873

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