print;
playing-card
- Museum number
- 1845,0825.272
- Description
-
Merchant; standing and reading a letter; inscribed at lower left: 'S', at lower centre: 'MERCHADANTE IIII' and at lower right: '4'; encircled by a frame of diamonds. c.1470-80
Engraving
- Production date
- 1470-1480 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 174 millimetres
-
Width: 92 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- The print belongs to the second version (called 'S series') of a group of fifty engravings traditionally known as the 'Tarocchi Cards of Mantegna' (for this set see the entry for Hind E.I.1a: P&D 1895-9-15-1). It is one of the ten images of the first group of the set, which is marked with the letter "S" and illustrates the 'Conditions of Man' in order of ascending importance.
The figure is a reverse copy of the 'E series' merchant; it only varies from its model in the different position of the hands (for a comparison see Hind E.I.4a and Mark J. Zucker, 'The Illustrated Bartsch, Commentary', vol. 24, part 3, 2000, p. 13, no. 004a).
Other impressions of the print are in Bassano (Museo Civico); Chatsworth (Collection of the Duke of Devonshire); Dresden (Kupferstichkabinett, Zwinger); Vienna; Paris; and in the Rothschild collection (Louvre, Paris).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1845
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1845,0825.272
