This is a photographic tarot done by photographer Pino Settanni. The Major Arcana and the Court Cards are photographs of human models. All of the models are female, except for the model in The Fool. The Fool is portrayed by Italian actor Mario Scaccia. The Minor Arcana are basically pips. The human form is represented in most cards, but the model is an artist’s wooden human form. These forms are painted in bright colors and posed in various ways around the symbol for the suit. The photographic work used in this deck is quite eye catching.
Models wear bright primary and secondary colors and are posed against a black background. The Major Arcana has the traditional names, with Justice as card VIII and Strength as card XI. The Fool is numbered XXII. There is some nudity, but it is tastefully done and does not detract from the look of the deck. The cards are large: 3 5/8″ X 5 3/8″ and consist of a central scene which is bordered in gray. There is another border outside of the gray which is gold metallic. Finally there is a narrow purple border. In the Majors, the card number on the top and the card name in English and Germans is on the bottom. The Minors have the suit name in English and German on wither side of the card number at the top. A short, one or two word interpretation is provided at the bottom of each card, again in English and German. The Minor Arcana are color coded with Swords in blue, Coins in gold, Cups in red and Wands in green. The court consists of King, Queen, Knight and page.
The deck is sold as a deck\book set. The book is written in English and German. The book starts with some background information on the deck. A discussion of each Major Arcana card follows, accompanied by a small black and white photo of the central scene. The descriptions are fairly traditional and not much predictive or divinatory information is provided. The next section discusses the suits. Again there is nothing new here, though I was rather dismayed by the description of swords representing “trouble on all fronts.” The entire write up of this suit was negative with statements like “The suit of swords heralds many difficulties. On(e) must hope that, when the cards are laid, better cards will compensate for these aggressive energies which are often translated into great obstacles.” The next section provides short interpretations for the court cards. This is followed by a section titled “Practical Meaning of the 78 Cards” which is a summary of all of the one and two word interpretations provided on each card. These interpretation are traditional in some case, but not all. The author alludes to a numerologic approach to interpretation, but does not elaborate. Two spreads are provided, a four card spread utilizing only the Major Arcana and a 7 card spread which uses the whole deck. Finally a short biography of the artist (Setanni) and the book writer (Jean Louis Victor) is provided. It is not clear in the book just how much Mr. Victor contributed to the development of the deck itself.
This deck is quite attractive and is well packaged in a slip sleeve case which holds the deck in a well, which is then covered by the book. The deck is traditional enough to be read by anyone who can read tarot, though the lack of scenes on the Minors may put off those who rely upon them. I definitely recommend this deck for collectors and for those who like art decks. I got mine as a gift and I would recommend it for this purpose as well.
Tarot Settanni
ISBN: 3-905017-75-X
Publisher: AG Muller
