The actual origins of the cards themselves, the images used on them, and use of the deck for the purposes of divination have been lost to time. However, there are some specific instances in history of card decks which are relevant and often cited.


The Baldini Deck (aka, the Mantegna Deck)

Among ancient cards that are mentioned in connection with the Tarot, the first are those of Baldini – the celebrated set attributed by tradition to Andrea Mantegna – from approximately 1470. A complete set contains fifty numbers, divided into five groups of ten cards each. There seems to be no record of their use, either for the purposes of a game of chance or skill or perhaps for divination.

The first group represents various people or stations in life: (1) The Beggar, (2) the Knave, (3) the Artisan, (4) the Merchant, (5) the Noble, (6) the Knight, (7) the Doge, (8) the King, (9) the Emperor, (10) the Pope. The second contains the muses and their divine leader: (11) Calliope, (12) Urania, (13) Terpsichore, (14) Erato, (15) Polyhymnia, (16) Thalia, (17) Melpomene, (18) Euterpe, (19) Clio, (20) Apollo. The third combines parts of the liberal arts, the sciences, and belief systems: (21) Grammar, (22) Logic, (23) Rhetoric, (24) Geometry, (25) Arithmetic, (26) Music, (27) Poetry,(28) Philosophy, (29) Astrology, (30) Theology. The fourth group completes the liberal arts and enumerates the virtues: (31) Astronomy, (32) Chronology, (33) Cosmology, (34) Temperance, (35) Prudence, (36) Strength, (37) Justice; (38) Charity, (39) Hope, (40) Faith. The fifth and last denary presents the System of the Heavens (41) Moon, (42) Mercury, (43) Venus, (44) Sun, (45) Mars, (46) Jupiter, (47) Saturn, (48) An Eighth Sphere, (49) Primum Mobile, (50) First Cause.

There have been attempts to extract complete Tarot sequences out of these groups where, for example, the first groups corresponds to the Major Arcana, the muses to Pentacles, the arts and sciences to Cups, the Virtues, etc., to Wands, and the stations of life to Swords. Even specific cards bear some resemblance to one another: the Baldini King, Knight and Knave suggest the corresponding court cards of the Minor Arcana. The Emperor, Pope, Temperance, Strength, Justice, Moon and Sun are common to the Mantegna and Major Arcana of any Tarot deck. Similarity has also connected the Beggar and The Fool, Venus and the Star, Mars and the Chariot, Saturn and the Hermit, even Jupiter, or alternatively the First Cause, with the Tarot card of the World. But the most salient features of the Major Arcana are missing in the Mantegna set. The Baldini images have only a vagueand occasional connection with Tarot cards. In fact, there is no known origin in place and time for the symbols with which we are familiar.


Gringonneur

In the year 1393, painter Charles Gringonneur (labeled an occultist and kabalist in historic documents, although this may not have been true) designed and illuminated some cards for the diversion of Charles VI of France when he was in mental ill-health. In the Bibliothèque du Roi, in Paris, there survive seventeen cards drawn and illuminated on paper. The beautiful figures have a background of gold and are framed in a silver border but they have no inscriptions or numbers.

They do, however, include the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot, including: Fool, Emperor, Pope, Lovers, Wheel of Fortune, Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, Moon, Sun, Chariot, Hermit, Hanged Man, Death, Tower and Last judgment. There are also four Tarot Cards at the Musée Carrer, Venice, and five others elsewhere, making nine in all. They include two Pages, three Kings and two Queens, thus illustrating the Minor Arcana as well.


Venice

Some parts of a Minchiate or Florentine decks have been dated to the period between 1413 and 1418. These were once in the possession of Countess Gonzaga, at Milan. A complete Minchiate pack contained ninety-seven cards. There were forty-one Major Arcana, the additional numbers being borrowed from the Baldini set. In the court cards of the Minor Arcana, the Knights were monsters of the centaur type, while the Pages were sometimes warriors and sometimes serving men. Another distinction is the prevalence of Christian medieval ideas and the utter absence of any Oriental suggestion.

The Bolognese Tarot is sometimes referred to as that of Venice and had a complete Major Arcana, but with numbers 20 and 21 transposed (ending on the Last Judgement). In the Minor Arcana the 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the small cards are omitted, with the result that there are sixty-two cards in all. The Bolognese Tarot seems to have been created about the beginning of the fifteenth century by an exiled Prince of Pisa. Their purpose is suggested by the fact that, in 1423, St. Bernardin of Sienna preached against playing cards and other forms of gambling. Forty years later, during the time of King Edward IV, importing cards into England was forbidden.