Behind the tarot lie philosophical thought and the arts of the Italian Renaissance. An exciting journey into the past to decipher the mysteries of an age-old card game.

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A privileged instrument of cartomancy, still used today by fortune tellers, the Marseille tarot has exerted a powerful power of fascination for centuries. Its twenty-two strange trump figures seem to pose as many enigmas. What do they mean? Who created them? What purpose ? The film explores the secret history of these cards, through the Florence of the Medici, the art of Botticelli and the philosophy of Plato. Throughout the investigation, the enigmatic game reveals itself to be the vehicle of an esoteric teaching of ancient wisdom. That of Marsile Ficino, one of the greatest philosophers of the Renaissance, keen on astrology and who directed the Neoplatonic Academy of Florence.

Spells
Rhythmic, full of anecdotes and visually captivating, this documentary explores the libraries, museums, castles and other churches housing treasures from the Italian Renaissance and Greek Antiquity. In a thriller-like journey, Philippe Truffault and Christophe Poncet take us to Hungary, Paris, Berlin, and of course, Florence. We thus see a Botticellian fresco that we thought had disappeared forever, found in the depths of a Hungarian castle. Works several centuries old are exhumed. Great names of the Italian Renaissance are invoked... A spiritual and artistic dive into a bygone golden age.

“The mysteries of the Marseille tarot”
Director: Philippe Truffault
© ARTE France - BUSINESS MEDIA - 2015