I begin this write-up with the full disclosure that I’ve known the creator of these two impressive decks for years, having befriended
Franco Coletti
on our
Tarot Art History Tours of Italy,
hanging out with mutual friends
Osvaldo Menegazzi
and (publishers of these decks)
Morena Poltronieri and Ernesto Fazioli, of the
Tarot Museum.
Coletti is such a prolific writer and artist, having created several intriguing decks with both publishing houses
(beautifully produced, limited printings), including a 78-card deck dedicated to Dante’s
Divine Comedy, which went out of print almost immediately. This retired philosophy professor is
warm, engaging
and profusely productive, making seven decks (that I know of) for il Meneghello’s shop in a span of just three years,
while also working with the Tarot Museum on many collaborations (including books on art, poetry, history
and
culture; all of which are alas, currently available in Italian only). Many of Coletti's decks are
already sold out but please explore these webpages, if so inclined to get a better sense of the breath of
his work:
Emi Tarot, 2011
The Divine Comedy’s Tarot (Dante) 2012,
The Black Tarot, 2011
A Great Love in 22 Major Arcana, 2011
The Tarot of Love; Sacred & Profane, 2011
New Tarot of Sacred and Profane Love, 2012
Tarot of Love, Sacred and Profane III, 2013
The two sister decks at the heart of this write-up were inspired by the Shakespearean classics Macbeth and Hamlet. They were derived from two books Franco Coletti had written, which were part of a trilogy dedicated to the Great Bard. In these books can be found illustrations for the 22 Major Arcana, along with a series of sketches. The books are also part of a series dedicated to a little girl called Emi, (daughter of Franco’s true love) who has inspired the imagination of Professor Coletti for years. She acts as muse and guide throughout his Shakespearean realms. These works faithfully represent the well-known tragedies by William Shakespeare, through the dreams and visions of little Emi (portrayed as an additional character in a few of the cards and referenced in the text). To actualize this impressive project, Franco tasked himself with the challenging goal of superimposing the qualities of the Shakespearean characters as well as main scenes from these two iconic plays, while making them identifiable to each Major Arcana card. Many of the images are recognizable but for those that need an added hint of inspiration, the leaflet is insightful.
For example, this passage in the Hamlet Deck:
EIGHT
Justice (shown below)
Image: Hamlet kills Claudius before dying
Here Justice serves as ruthless revenge: we are in a barbarian age where many acts are primitive. Claudius pays with his life for all those lives that, due to him, were destroyed, beginning with his brother. Fratricide and usurpation of the crown are intertwined to represent the worst sin of all: betrayal. There is no forgiveness for this.
Or Franco's take on Temperance:
FOURTEEN
Temperance (shown)
Image: Hamlet dies in the arms of his friend Horace
Here no water is poured from jugs, but instead the blood flows from infected wounds. Yet there is also the acquisition of peace, a serenity reached at the end. As the liquids are rebalanced in their vessels, so it is also in this case - after much trouble and anguish - an inner balance is found and at last everything can be forgotten and laid to rest. We cannot see the stars, but as Hamlet dies we know that he will reach them at last, finding again - who knows? - Perhaps his poor Ophelia. We can only wish it to be true.
Doth thou seek more reference? I bid you, from the deck Franco Coletti hath dedicated to Macbeth:
THIRTEEN
Death (shown)
Image: the two assassins paid by Macbeth with weapons in hand
Death does not necessarily have a scythe in hand: it can, as in this case, wield sword and knife. But these eyes are nonetheless blind orbits without light. The two killers will be thorough: Banquo will not escape, nor Lady Macduff, or the child. Because Death is egalitarian, it makes no distinction between men, women and children. Death has its own high sense of duty.
And the impressive castle tower:
SIXTEEN
Tower (shown below)
Image: Glamis stronghold erected against the stormy sky
In this case a Tower exists in the play as well as traditional Tarot, even if it does not get struck by lightning, it will still fall into ruin. Glamis is the fortress of Macbeth, and represents the dragon's den: the knight will have to destroy here in order to gain victory. How many Glamis have we erected in our lives? And how many will remain intact in the end? None, perhaps, because even the great Tower of Babel could not reach the sky.
Both decks are created with a deep, fertile comprehension of these beloved Shakespearean works.
Much thought and detail went into their production, as well as the artistic rendering itself.
The backs of the Macbeth deck (shown below)
for
instance, have an image of the three ‘wicked witchy’ sisters, transformed into hares. Professor Coletti shares these touching words in the leaflet:
Women, hares, animals, fairies. The distant past, in which there was no clear distinction between human beings and animals, returns again to suggest that nothing is as it appears. Because, although we have erected high walls between humans and nature, we will always return to earth. If we do not wish to vanish forever, like the dreams of glory of the Macbeths. In the deepest heart of the world, dancing in magical circles, calling on the moon, the sun and stars to guide us, chanting so as not to enter the darkness, we keep moving towards the light.
The price for either the Hamlet or Macbeth 22 Major Arcana deck: € 35 Euro (around $44 US, depending on Euro rate). Or there is the attractive deluxe edition, limited to only 30 hand-numbered sets, which has both decks nestled on a bed of straw in a sturdy wooden box, with a darkly stained, sliding lid. This special edition includes a large (9.25 "H x 6.25" W - 23.5 x 15.9 cm) signed print, on textured cardstock of one of the illustrations from either deck (make a special request by contacting the curator, Morena Poltronieri.) The deluxe edition costs € 120. Euro (about $140 ~ $145 US + P&H from Italy). The cards are the same size 4 x 6'' (10 x 15 cm) and quality as in the solo decks (matte, textured art stock). The leaflets are signed and numbered in the same manner (the deluxe set, is signed by the curator and hand-numbered and limited to 30 sets); while the individual decks are limited to 200 (hand-numbered/signed). A truly unique offering for serious collector fans of the immortal William Shakespeare.
