From February 27 to June 2, 2026, theCarrara Academy in Bergamo is hosting Tarot. The Origins, the Cards, the Fortune, an exhibition curated by Paolo Plebani that systematically and documentedly addresses the history of tarot along a time span of about seven centuries. The project stems from a major exhibition event: the reunion, after more than a century, of the 74 cards of the Colleoni deck, considered the most complete in the world. The cards, now stored between the Carrara Academy, New York’s Morgan Library and a private collection, temporarily come back together, providing an opportunity for a broader historical, artistic and cultural reflection.
The exhibition begins with the origins of tarot in the 15th century, when the game emerged as a form of aristocratic entertainment within the courts of northern Italy. In this refined and opulent context, cards took on a role beyond mere pastime, becoming prized objects, often entrusted to painters active in court circles. The cards of the Colleoni deck, attributed to Bonifacio Bembo and Antonio Cicognara, bear witness to this early moment, characterized by a strong focus on formal quality, materials and iconographic richness, with references to humanistic culture and the Petrarchan Trionfi tradition.
With the invention of printing and the gradual spread of reproduction techniques, tarot came out of the exclusive sphere of the elite and established itself as a popular game. The exhibition reconstructs this transformation, analyzing the circulation of the cards, iconographic variants, different techniques of production and patrons, also in the light of the most recent scientific investigations. Attention is extended to the social and economic dynamics that fostered the spread of tarot cards in Europe. A central passage is devoted to the 18th century, when tarot began to be used as a divination tool. The exhibition investigates the reasons for this change in function and its consequences on a symbolic and cultural level, relating the cards to esotericism, philosophy and literature. It was in this period that tarot consolidated an imagery destined to exert a long influence, extending into the twentieth century and beyond.
Indeed, the tour continues with an analysis of the fortunes of tarot in the 20th century, when artists and intellectuals reinterpreted them as visual and conceptual devices. Surrealism represents one of the key moments of this rediscovery, as demonstrated by the works of Victor Brauner, flanked in the exhibition by accounts of artists and authors who, in different eras and languages, dialogued with the symbolic universe of the cards. These include Irving Penn, Nikide Saint Phalle and Leonora Carrington, who are present with works documenting the use of tarot as a tool for reflection on imagination, identity and destiny.
The exhibition features loans from some of the most important international museum and library institutions. In addition to the collaboration with the Morgan Library in New York, which will host the exhibition after the Bergamo stop, the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University and the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence are participating in the project. Also relevant is the contribution of museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, confirming the Accademia Carrara’s network of international relations. Alongside foreign loans, the exhibition features an important nucleus of works from Italian museums, including Castello Sforzesco and Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Galleria Sabauda in Turin, and Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. For the contemporary art section, loans from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and the Niki Charitable Art Foundation are added, as well as works from specialized private collections.
The exhibition project is complemented by an articulated public program, parallel initiatives and educational activities that explore the role of tarot in other areas of creativity as well, from literature to cinema, from fashion to music. Tarot. Origins, Cards, Fortune is part of the biennial MONDO CARRARA program, which brings together exhibition and publishing projects born out of the study of the museum’s collections and oriented to open up to broader themes, including lesser-known chapters of art history. Within the framework, the exhibition contributes to the Accademia Carrara’s activities related to conservation, research, restoration, educational services and communication, with initiatives hosted both in the museum’s halls and in the outdoor spaces of the PwC Gardens. MONDO CARRARA thus reaffirms the institution’s commitment to presenting itself as a place accessible to diverse audiences, attentive to educational and social needs, and oriented toward an idea of art as a tool for knowledge, care and well-being.
 |
| Tarot cards on display in Bergamo: seven centuries of history at the Accademia Carrara |
Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.
