Gli Arcani di Elisabetta

Gli Arcani di Elisabetta
Elisabetta Cassari, 1986

This is a deck of Trump cards created by the Italian artist Elisabetta Cassari and published by Edizione del Solleone in 1986. The edition was limited to a printing of only 99, the edition numbers being stamped onto the spine of the box. The illustrations appear to be etchings, similar in style to her previous Solleone Tarot, and are printed in black ink on a very thick off-white stock. Each set was originally intended to be hand painted by the artist, but she was unable to complete that daunting task. My impression is that many of the decks, which are now in the hands of collectors, remain unpainted.

The deck consists of 22 Major Arcana cards plus one illustrated title card. In my opinion, the subject matter depicted here is more disturbing than in her previous deck, The Solleone Tarot. Some of these cards have blatant images of torture and domination. The Fool, Temperance, and The Sun, (shown above) have fallen victim to strange, medieval treatments. Some of those who have escaped such fates seem to have formed alliances; others protect themselves through trickery, such as The Magician, or by a more serious magic, as seen in The Star.

The Papessa shown above appears to be either a corpse or a puppet, because there are no pupils in her eyes. Behind her is a horned demon, his one hand clasping the Papessa’s wrist and his other arm wrapped around her waist in place of her own left arm. The corruption of power is a common theme in Cassari’s decks; in this card, it is the corruption of ecclesiastical authority.

Cassari’s deck depicts the testing of the human spirit, a world where the elements can be destructive forces rather than allies. The sun, for example, is often shown here as an intense and deadly heat. Water is either scarce, turned into manipulative potions as in The Hermit, or used as a weapon as in Temperance, shown above. Earth, wood and metal are used to exploit fellow human beings.

I’m not sure if these images are the artist’s personal demons, or if they are satire. This deck makes me wonder if my reaction to it would be different if I had been born into less fortunate circumstances. Every deck by Cassari seems to challenge our ideas about social justice and our roles therein.

This deck can sometimes be found at Alida.

Review by Mark Filipas, 8/18/00