The Servant, plate two from The Ranks and Conditions of Men (c. 1465): Artwork and History

The Servant, plate two from The Ranks and Conditions of Men (c. 1465) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Master of the E-Series Tarocchi Italian, active c. 1465.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Among the most perplexing early prints produced in Italy are the 50 engraved tarocchi (tarot) cards created in Ferrara in the mid-15th century. Although the prints are the shape and size of playing cards, they do not form a full tarot deck, and it is not known if they were really intended for use. The complete Tarocchi series is divided into five thematic groups: Ranks and Conditions of Man; Apollo and the Muses; Liberal Arts; Geniuses and Virtues; and Firmaments of the Universe.

Object facts

• Title: The Servant, plate two from The Ranks and Conditions of Men
• Date: c. 1465
• Artist attribution: Master of the E-Series Tarocchi Italian, active c. 1465
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Engraving on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: Plate: 17.9 × 10.1 cm (7 1/16 × 4 in.); Sheet: 18.2 × 10.4 cm (7 3/16 × 4 1/8 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1924.39.45

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.