A Baroque Tarot Deck: Tarocchini di Mitelli

I would like to talk to you about a very special tarot deck:

I Tarocchini di Mitelli

This Baroque-style deck was created by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, an engraving artist who was also known for his playing card designs.

This 62-card deck dates back to the 17th century. The reason why it is called tarocchini is because it is a smaller size deck, instead of the 78-card decks we use today. In Italian, the word "tarocchi" refers to a normal deck size, and the -ini suffix is added to emphasize its smallness.

However, even though this is an old deck, the 62-card tradition in Bologna is alive and well.

There are 22 major arcana cards. Some of them are different than the ones we use. For instance, instead of Hierophant, there is the Pope, there are two emperors, one standing up, and one sitting on his throne.

The Lovers card is represented by Venus, the angel. The Judgment card is also replaced by the Angel card.

Some cards can be difficult to identify as the major arcana cards have no names or numbers on them.

In this video, you can see a reading done by Shell David using this deck:

Mitelli Tarot Deck

The Hanged Man, for instance, is beaten to death with a bat. The Strength on the other hand is leaning against a column. You might easily mistake the Star card with the Hierophant. The Star card in this deck is an old man walking with a lantern, whereas the Hierophant card is Cronos, the god of time, an old man walking with crutches.

Besides that, the minor arcana cards are similar to Marseille cards, meaning there are no figures or scenes on them. But that's not all. The suits start with the aces, but then there are no 2,3,4,5. Each suit jumps straight to number 6.

You can see a short walkthrough of this deck here:

Basically, this is Bologna-style reading. In Italy, almost every region has its own deck, and these decks have different traditions. Bologna region is particular because of the 62-card tradition. The history of Bolognese decks goes back to the 15th century. If you ever come to Italy, you should also check out their Tarot Museum. Their tradition is well-documented.

If you like using tarot decks with Medieval and Baroque designs, and if you are up for a challenge to do readings with a little bit of a different perspective, I would encourage you to give this deck a try. It might seem overwhelming at first to get used to the differences, and I would not recommend it to an absolute beginner. However, if you are an advanced reader, or willing to learn more about different styles of reading, this deck will not disappoint you.