Only days remain for this playful exhibition at the Metropolitan.
Only three decks of European hand-painted playing cards are known to have survived the late Middle Ages, and many of those cards are included in a small exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition is a magnificent display of early European painting and recalls the mastery of manuscript illumination.
“Upper Knave of Ducks,” from The Stuttgart Playing Cards, ca. 1430, paper, gold, paint, ink, 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.
(c) Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart 2016
On view through April 17, “The World in Play: Luxury Cards, 1430-1540” presents a number of outstanding examples of playing card painting. Via the museum, “Examples of cards from the earliest hand-painted woodblock deck as well as 15th century German engraved cards, north Italian tarot cards of the same period, and the finest deck from the early 16th century will complete the display. Collectively, the figures and scenes depicted on these cards reflect changing worldviews during a period of tumultuous social, economic, and religious change, charting the transition from late medieval to early modern Europe.”
“9 of Falcons,” from The Stuttgart Playing Cards, ca. 1430, paper, gold, paint, ink, 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.
(c) Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart 2016
To learn more, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
