The Cloisters Deck

I was agog when I saw this deck. "Agog" & "gobsmacked" are 2 words I hold in the farthest abyss of my reserves...The Cloisters (circa 1475-ish) is yet another deck commissioned by someone of high status, likely a wealthy Flemish merchant. The lack of gilding & ornament shows either a calculated restraint or one of fiscal origins. In studying this deck, I realised 2 pertinent things #1) The Cloisters is entirely a thing of satire #2) Playing card packs were ideal mechanisms for passing on messages of political intel, intrigue & general information all while under the cloak of complete civility. One could easily pass a few cards along with a meaningful furrow & voila! 

The Cloisters is the only complete deck of its kind & century. The other hunt-related deck I have featured here (The Stuttgart) has 49 cards...close, but no Arturo Fuente Opus X.

Comparing both decks, it is easily surmised that The Stuttgart is a deck commissioned by royalty...a deck loaded with dimension, levels, allegories & possibilities....The Cloisters smacks of a new age...& of wealth, yes...but not too much! The restraint is very telling.

What does any of this have to do with dogs? It reveals the level of importance that they had in the realm of nobility, therefore showing how dogs were utilised & is documentation of such. Without the hunt...deals, transactions, alliances, marriages, acquisitions, religion & politics would not enjoy the development they did. The freedom of land & bromance was the medium through which kingdoms would rise & fall.

I hand you the ace of hearts.