According to the academic consensus, the first recorded tarot decks were discovered in northern Italy in the fifteenth century. At that time trumps with allegorical illustrations were added to the four suits. These new suits were called ‘Triumphs’. Over the years, well-known tarot decks such as the ‘Marseilles’ were born, followed by well-known modern tarot decks such as the Werther.

According to the evidence, in the 16th century in Florence, Italy, there is a kind of expansion type tarot cards called Minchiate. This deck had a total of 97 cards, with a staggering number of 41 trump cards.

Francois de Poilly (1623-1693) was a famous French printmaker of the 17th century, whose life left more than 400 exquisite prints, allowing him to cross over into the ranks of the great masters of art. This deck of cards is his Tarot deck based on Minchiate. In history, it is extremely rare for a famous artist to make his own tarot deck, which shows its preciousness.

This deck is also rare for its high artistic standard. François de Beau used his skill and imagination to create a magnificent picture of 17th century art. The composition of the entire deck is highly elegant and unified, without a single flaw throughout, and the depiction of some cards, such as Fate, the stars, the moon, the sun, etc., has reached a breathtaking level, reflecting the artist’s high artistic attainments.

The deck is a 97-card Italian tarot system with a clear structure of trump cards, all consisting of fine prints with delicate lines and high artistic standards, structured as follows:

No. 1-4: Mercury, Cupid, Venus, Bacchus.

No. 5-10: Prudence, charity, Justice, Faith, Strength, Fortuna.

No. 11-14: Old, youth, childhood, infancy (the four stages of life)

No. 15-19: taste, touch, smell, hearing, sight (the five senses)

No. 20-23: water, fire, earth and air (the four elements).

No. 24-35: The 12 months represented by the images of the signs of the zodiac.

No. 36-40: Star, Moon, Sun, World, Trumpet.

Unnumbered: ‘Monmus’ is similar to ‘The Fool’ in the Tarot.

The 56 court and pip Cards are also quite different from the Tarot, using images of the four continents of the time to depict Kings, Queens, Knights,Pages, and then the French card suits from 1 to 10 points. So, if you like to read with playing cards, this deck will give you a wonderful chemistry for your interpretations.

Attention! In this restoration, the pip cards suits are facing the same direction, which was the uniform style of cards at the time. The double ended of French suited playing cards did not appear until the early 18th century, so many other versions of this restoration are incorrect.

Due to the age of the original work, the phenomenon of yellowing of the paper and a number of stains and blemishes, etc. have been produced. Therefore, this restoration, using the technique of restoring old photographs, removes almost all the stains, smudges, etc., repairs the original’s defects and imperfections, and readjusts and fills in the colours, making the masterpiece brand new without removing the flavour of the work itself.