The Red Tent

I know, i know i’ve been away. Goddamnit. But it was for a good reason - i was in Italy. And this trip has gifted me with lots of new, unique decks, specially after i visited the shop ‘Il Meneghello Tarocchi’ in Milan, and met the brilliant rmind behind it: Osvaldo Menegazzi. I had expected a serious and quiet old man, that would look weirdly at me whenever i touched the decks. I had a surprise! Mr. Menegazzi is nice, and very proud of his work - and he has all the reasons to be so. All decks in his shop that he has printed/edited and the ones he creates himself (he’s an artist) are superb! Great quality, nicely chosen (most are reprints of rare decks he has in his collection). Boy, i DID wish i had a wealthy, give-away-money parents there (i can’t complain, because my mother helped me with a bit of money!). I bought three new decks, and Mr. Menegazzi gave me one as a gift for free. So sweet!

So i returned home with three new (signed & numbered) babies from his shop. ‘I Gatti’ [1138 of 2000], a Major Arcana deck created by Mr. Menegazzi himself, inspired on his own cat. Lovely! The other was ‘La Corte dei Tarocchi’ [547 of 1100], by Anna Maria D’Onofrio. A cute deck, with an OWL on the back of the cards! I had never even seen it before, and apparently Mr. Menegazzi likes it very much! The third deck i bought was one i’ve been wanting for ages: ‘La Vera Sibilla’, in this edition called ‘Sibilla Originale del 1890′. It evens comes with a quite detailed little…erm…little sepia book, lol! There’s something curious about it though…it says 1500 copies of this deck were published. However…my copy…is numbered 1679 o.O. Go figure…

The deck Mr. Menegazzi gave me is not a deck by him…not even printed by ‘Il Meneghello’…it’s called ‘Tarocco Balocco’ [233 of 500], a Major Arcana-only deck by Morena Poltronieri. At first, i thought this deck just weird looking an didn’t give much attention…but then…i started liking it. It feature old toys…so fun! The Star is a small astronaut…the Judgement, a jazz player (all toys!). Lovely little deck!

To prove you all that i was really there, here’s a picture of us! I spent only one day in Milan, but it was unforgettable.

Mr. Menegazzi also makes great works of art using tarot cards! Yes, big art pieces to hang on the wall, all featuring tarot cards, playing cards, original pictures…amazing. Unfortunately, for me, too big or heavy to bring one home by plane. Maybe next time

The other deck i got in Italy are ‘La Sibilla della Zingara’ (another sibilla deck), ‘I Tarocchi’ (a very funny and colorful Major-only deck, in Marseilles style) and the mini version of LS ‘Tarot of the New Vision’. With so many decks in my bag (the ones i got in Italy plus the ones i had with myself), i wonder how they didn’t stop me at the airport. Tarot contraband! Hehehehehe :p.