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VERSION 2.0 IN PROGRESS

Temporary, for editorial feedback only - please do not bookmark or download

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III - the Empress
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A woman sits on an opulent throne surrounded by symbols of fertility - fruit, rabbits, flowers and babies. She wears a crown made of wheat. The baby on her lap and two small angels play musical instruments.

My Interpretation: In a true victory, both sides are winners. Matriarchal authority. A goal-oriented person, but one who is deeply concerned about the means used to achieve success. Collaborative and co-operative, willing to compromise in order to reach a mutually satisfactory outcome. Fruitfulness, fertility and abundance. The bounty of the earth. Happiness and good fortune. Creativity. (Reversed: Withering away of bounty through neglect and inaction. Weakness, indecision.)

Edit notes to self: This card is quite like the Rider-Waite card, although I've added a baby and some rabbits to represent fertility. Still to do - pretty happy with it.

Sources:

Base Pic: Michele Pannonio, Hungarian painter, (active 1415-64 in Ferrara); Ceres Enthroned 1450-60 Panel, 136.5 x 82 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

Madonna and Musical Baby: Unknown Master of the German Cologne school (14-15th centuries); The Virgin in a Paradise Garden 1415-30 Tempera on oak, 20.2 x 16.2 cm Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.

Rabbits: Francesco del Cossa, Italian painter, Ferrarese school (b. cca. 1435, Ferrara, d. 1477, Bologna); Allegory of April: Triumph of Venus 1476-84 Fresco, 500 x 320 cm Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara.

Fruit in Background: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian painter, Florentine school (b. 1449, Firenze, d. 1494, Firenze); Birth of St John the Baptist 1486-90 Fresco Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

Small Musical Angels: Pedro Serra, Spanish painter (active 1363-1399); Madonna with Angels Playing Music 1390s Panel, 196 x 130 cm Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona.

Fruit at Top: Carlo Crivelli, Italian painter, Venetian school (b. 1430/35, Venezia, d. 1495, Camerino, Marche); Lamentation over the Dead Christ 1485 Tempera on panel Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Sky: Paulo Uccello, Italian painter, Florentine school (b. 1397, Firenze, d. 1475, Firenze); St. George and the Dragon c. 1456 Oil on canvas, 57 x 73 cm National Gallery, London.

Parchment Text Panel: Unknown Illuminators, England; The Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen University Library MS 24), written and illuminated around 1200. Aberdeen University, Scotland.

Gilt Border: Conrad Witz, Swiss painter (b. cca 1400, Rottweil, d. cca. 1445, Basel); King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba 1435 Panel, 84 x 79 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin.