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40 The Pictorial Key to the Tarot

Notwithstanding, however, the preference shewn towards the Venetian Tarot, it is acknowledged that some portions of a Min- chiate or Florentine set must be allocated to the period between 1413 and 1418. These were once in the possession of Countess Gon- zaga, at Milan. A complete Minchiate pack contained ninety-seven cards, and in spite of these vestiges it is regarded, speaking generally, as a later development. There were forty- one Trumps Major, the additional numbers being borrowed or reflected from the Baldini emblematic set. In the court cards of the Minor Arcana, the Knights were monsters of the centaur type, while the K naves were some­- times warriors and sometimes serving-men. Another distinction dwelt upon is the pre­- valence of Christian mediæval ideas and the utter absence of any Oriental suggestion. The question, however, remains whether there are Eastern traces in any Tarot cards. We come, in fine, to the Bolognese Tarot, sometimes referred to as that of Venice and having the Trumps Major complete, but num-­ bers 20 and 21 are transposed. In the Minor Arcana the 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the small cards are omitted, with the result that there are sixty-

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