Hope, plate 39 from Genii and Virtues
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
Plate: 17.8 × 10.1 cm (7 1/16 × 4 in.); Sheet: 18.4 × 10.5 cm (7 1/4 × 4 3/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
122263
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Hope is part of a 50-card set known as the Tarocchi, which were not tarot cards but which probably served a didactic purpose as a memory game. The Tarocchi are sometimes found bound as books, reinforcing their educational purpose. The images on the cards illustrate hierarchies in society and philosophy and are divided among five ascending categories: Ranks and Conditions of Men, Apollo and the Muses, Arts and Sciences, Genii and Virtues, and Planets and Spheres. Hope and Faith, are consecutive p...
About the Artist
Master of the E-Series Tarocchi · 1460–1475
The Master of the E-Series Tarocchi was an anonymous Italian engraver active in Ferrara around 1465, during the vibrant era of the Este court. His early life and training remain undocumented, but stylistic affinities link him to artists collaborating with Francesco del Cossa on the frescoes of Palazzo Schifanoia's Salone dei Mesi. Working in the Ferrarese tradition, he produced the pioneering E-se...