Buy the Sola Busca Tarot in our esoteric shop
The Sola Busca Tarot holds a major place in the history of tarot. It is the oldest complete 78-card deck preserved to this day, consisting of 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana, dating from the Italian Renaissance around 1490-1491. This antiquity makes it a direct testimony of the earliest iconographic forms of tarot, long before the standardized models we know today.
A masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance
The deck is named after the Milanese Sola-Busca family, who kept the cards for several centuries. In the early 21st century, the collection was acquired by the Italian Ministry of Culture and placed in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. The original cards were copper engraved and then hand-colored in Northern Italy, probably in Ferrara or Venice. They are both a refined work of art and an essential historical document for understanding the evolution of tarot at the end of the 15th century.
A major source of inspiration for modern tarot
The Sola Busca had a decisive influence on later developments of tarot, notably on the Tarot of Marseille, the Rider-Waite, and more broadly on the iconography of modern divinatory decks, with a strong link to alchemical imagery. This museum-quality edition offers cards and illustrations restored with great fidelity to the originals, allowing you to appreciate every detail while respecting the Renaissance aesthetic.
