Art Institute of Chicago

The Sun, plate 44 from Planets and Spheres

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

Date

c. 1465

Medium

Engraving on paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

These so-called tarot cards were probably used as teaching tools—pamphlets or sets of flashcards— for noblemen or students. They instilled the traditional hierarchies of society and philosophy in five ascending series: Ranks and Conditions of Men , Apollo and the Muses , Arts and Sciences , Planets and Spheres , and Genii and Virtues . Artists also reused figures from these engravings in their art. The tarrochi are sometimes found bound as books, reinforcing their educational content. The Sun , with its curious conjunction of the zodiac’s Scorpio and a falling child, comes from the series Planets and Spheres

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