Polyhymnia, plate fifteen from Apollo and the Muses

About this artwork

The deck of fifty so-called Tarocchi are not tarots in the modern, fortune-telling sense, nor were they intended as playing cards. No cut-out impressions mounted for play are known, and they lack the suits and numbers of a regular deck. Instead, these delicately engraved didactic allegories are grouped in five numbered ranks describing the workings of the spheres of man, the muses, the liberal arts, the cosmos, and the heavens in order of increasing significance, and offer a didactic sequence to...

Art Historical Context

Behold *Polyhymnia, plate fifteen from Apollo and the Muses*, a delicate engraving on paper created around 1465 by the anonymous Master of the E-Series Tarocchi, a pivotal figure in early Italian printmaking. This intimate work, measuring just 17.9 × 10 cm, captures Polyhymnia, the Muse of sacred poetry and hymns, as part of a celebrated series evoking classical antiquity. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings Department, it exemplifies the Renaissance revival of mythological themes amid Italy's burgeoning humanist culture. Engraving, the medium here, marked a revolutionary technique in the 15th century: artists incised fine lines into copper plates, inked them, and pressed paper to produce detailed, reproducible images. The Master's precise, elegant linework—hallmarks of the Ferrara school—allowed these prints to circulate widely, bridging elite art with broader audiences. Unlike paintings, engravings like this were affordable and portable, fueling the spread of Renaissance ideals. These Tarocchi prints, often mistaken for cards but truly artistic meditations on virtues, sciences, and muses, hold immense historical value as some of the earliest fine engravings north of the Alps. They reflect a cultural bridge from medieval to modern Europe, inviting us to ponder the enduring power of the Muses in inspiring creativity.

About the Artist

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi · 1460–1475

The Master of the E-Series Tarocchi was an anonymous Italian engraver active in Ferrara around 1465, during the vibrant era of the Este court. His early life and training remain undocumented, but stylistic affinities link him to artists collaborating with Francesco del Cossa on the frescoes of Palazzo Schifanoia's Salone dei Mesi. Working in the Ferrarese tradition, he produced the pioneering E-se...