This volume examines how and why many early modern pictures operate in an ekphrastic mode.

An introduction to Tarot cards that includes in-depth interpretations for each card and explains how different qualities of the card can manifest in a person's life or apply to various situations.

The latest of Lo Scarabeo's stunning metallic decks, The Golden Tarot of Tsar is printed with shining gold foil, evocative of the richness of the art of the Tsars. Atanassov meticulously captures the intricate art of the Russian miniaturists who exemplified the art of this time. He also brilliantly merges the archetypes of the Tarot with the histories of Christian saints. Just as the saints achieved spiritual enlightenment and expressed their precepts in their daily actions, so the Tarot helps us access the spiritual and manifest it in our everyday lives.

Italian artist Luigi Scapini's lavish paintings recreate 15th century Italy in this gold-accented tarot deck. The Major Arcana and court cards have gold backgrounds in the manner of fifteenth-century European decks. Both the Major and Minor Arcana include full scenes. In the Minors, symmetrical arrangements of the suit symbols provide composition around which the scenes are arranged.The depth of Scapini's art history expertise is evident in his lush settings and period costumes. Interesting details, and sometimes-humorous references, are cleverly imbedded in the artwork, with many of the cards depicting historical figures, for example, Rasputin as the Knight of Cups. Readers will easily relate to the universal situations revealed in the cards, for pleasurable and insightful readings.

Tarot of the Magicians by Swiss occultist artist and author Oswald Wirth was first published in Paris in 1927, and a Weiser edition was later released in 1985. Long unavailable, the book is back in print in a beautiful new package with full-color pull-out cards reproducing Wirth’s 1889 tarot deck. With a new introduction by bestselling tarot author Mary K. Greer, Tarot of the Magicians offers tarot enthusiasts and students of the occult an in-depth and authoritative analysis of one of the most beautiful and evocative of all modern tarot decks. In this important tarot work of the Major Arcana, Wirth combines the imagery and symbolism from Alchemy, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and the magical heritage of Egypt and Chaldea, and explores the astronomical (rather than strictly zodiacal) associations for the Major Arcana cards.