2-730-221 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Gentleman (from the Tarocchi series E: Conditions of Man, #5), c. 1465. This set of 50 engravings, hand coloured in gold, was purchased by the print department in 1924. The traditional title for the series is a misnomer because the prints are not tarot cards; instead, they may be a set of didactic images illustrating a philosophical hierarchy of the universe in which every component part is assigned its rightful place. The images are divided into five groups of ten and might be given the descriptive titles of Conditions of Man (which includes Gentleman); Apollo and the Muses; Liberal Arts; Cosmic Principles; and Firmaments of the Universe.