Today at the Carrara Academy in Bergamo, the exhibition “Tarot cards. Origins, cards, luck”: A fascinating seven-century journey through the history of the tarot, from the luxury of the Renaissance courts to contemporary creativity. At the center, the extraordinary Visconti-Sforza Tarot decks: illuminated masterpieces of the fifteenth century that tell the Milan of the fifteenth century between art, play and symbolism.
The exhibition is based on an international research project involving Italian and US institutions in the technical and scientific study of the three decks now kept between the Morgan Library, the Beinecke Library of Yale University, the Accademia Carrara and the Pinacoteca di Brera.
The Scientific Laboratories of the ‘La Venaria Reale’ Restoration Conservation Centre participated in an integrated programme of advanced diagnostic investigations aimed at analysing materials, implementing techniques and subsequent interventions.
The case study confirms the crucial role of science in historical-artistic research and in the development of sustainable strategies for the knowledge and conservation of cultural heritage.
Bergamo to New York
The project now arrives in New York with TArot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions, exhibition hosted at The Morgan Library & Museum from 27 June to 4 October 2026: a second international stage that further expands the path started in Bergamo.
At the end of the New York stage, the cards in the Colleoni deck will be redesigned in the museum’s rooms, providing a further opportunity to bring the public closer to one of the most important parts of Carrara’s collections.
CCR and accessibility
