Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
All dressed up with nowhere to go! These tarot cards from the Morgan Library’s permanent collection represent the intersection of fashion, contemporary couture design, and Renaissance art. The Visconti-Sforza tarot cards, whose imagery can be traced back to ancient Egypt, served as the primary inspiration for the #DiorCouture Spring-Summer 2021 collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri. In this video, originally released in conjunction with the season's launch, Roger S. Wieck, Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, tells the story of the deck. Bearing the name of two of Milan’s most noble families, it was commissioned in the mid-15th century as a display of prestige, and its misassociation with the esoteric only arose centuries later. Exquisitely illuminated and embellished with gold and silver, it was pioneering in its balanced inclusion of female figures.
All dressed up with nowhere to go! These tarot cards from the Morgan Library’s permanent collection represent the intersection of fashion, contemporary couture design, and Renaissance art. The Visconti-Sforza tarot cards, whose imagery can be traced back to ancient Egypt, served as the primary inspiration for the #DiorCouture Spring-Summer 2021 collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri. In this video, originally released in conjunction with the season's launch, Roger S. Wieck, Melvin R. Seiden Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, tells the story of the deck. Bearing the name of two of Milan’s most noble families, it was commissioned in the mid-15th century as a display of prestige, and its misassociation with the esoteric only arose centuries later. Exquisitely illuminated and embellished with gold and silver, it was pioneering in its balanced inclusion of female figures.
