Look at the Visconti-Sforza tarot cards as works of art

Look at the object before interpreting it

In the exhibition The World in Play, the Metropolitan Museum of Art places the Visconti-Sforza tarot in Milan around 1450 and attributes it to the workshop of Bonifacio Bembo. The museum describes the cards as made of pasteboard, with opaque paint over a worked gold ground. The details in the source below invite you to see the cards as objects made in a particular place and time before you look for personal meaning in an image.

You don’t need any background in fortune-telling. Start as you would with a painting. Notice what catches your eye, then ask how the image is put together. The walk-through below is an observation exercise. It makes no predictions and offers no interpretation on behalf of the museum.

Find a way in through three details

Open a reproduction with its museum label. First, look at where the figure is placed. Is the figure in the center, in profile, standing, or seated? Then follow a gesture or look at an object held in a hand. Finally, observe the background and outlines. Three details are enough. You don’t have to identify every accessory right away or assign a hidden meaning to it.

Try describing these details in simple words. “I see a raised hand” is an observation. “This hand foretells a meeting” adds a prediction the image can’t establish. In between, you can write down a personal association such as “This gesture reminds me of welcoming someone.” The idea is yours and may not reflect what the artist or the first owners saw.

Read the qualifications in a museum label

Read the museum label closely too. “About 1450” places the work near that date. It does not establish an exact year for each card. Likewise, an attribution to a workshop does not mean Bonifacio Bembo personally painted every detail. Keeping these qualifications in view lets you tell the story of the object without adding certainty the source doesn’t provide.

You can make your own short museum label by recording the place, the date as given, and the materials. Separately, write down what intrigues you about the image. Bringing the museum’s account together with your own observations makes for a richer visit. You learn about the object while keeping your own questions.

Keep a discovery you made

To finish, note one detail you didn’t notice at first and one question you’d like to explore further. You can also simply enjoy the image without applying it to your life. This approach to tarot makes room for artistic curiosity and imagination while keeping a free association separate from a fact. The card invites you to look more closely, and your choices remain yours.