Tarocco Siciliano

1 - I Bagotti or I Picciotti	6 - La Fortezza	17 - La Luna	19 - La Palla or L'Atlante

Tarot and Minchiate were both introduced to Sicily in 1663, probably by way of Rome. The original designs were probably of Florentine origin, although some alterations were made early on. There is a trump card lower than the Bagatto, titled Miseria or Poverta, meaning poverty. It shows a beggar in rags holding out a bowl or box. In later decks, he is chained to a large block. The Fool is called il Fuggativo, the fugative. The Papess is gone, and the Pope is replaced by the virtue of Constancy, shown with shield and banner. The Angel is replaced by Jove. In the 18th century, a Sicilian noblewoman instigated the alteration of two offensive cards, the Devil and the Devil's House. They now depict a ship (borrowed from the Minchiate Water card) and a simple Tower, without the distressing fire and lightning usually associated with it. The complete sequence of Tarocco Siciliano trumps is listed here:

Poverty (Miseria or Poverta)	7 - Justice	14 - the Ship
1 - the Bagatto (i Bigotti or i Picciotti)	8 - Love	15 - the Tower
2 - the Empress	9 - the Chariot	16 - the Star
3 - the Emperor	10 - the Wheel of Fortune	17 - the Moon
4 - Constancy	11 - the Hanged Man	18 - the Sun
5 - Temperance	12 - the Old Man	19 - the Globe or Atlas (la Palla, L'Atlante)
6 - Fortitude	13 - Death	20 - Jove

Some of the features of this pack are characteristics of the southern tarot tradition generally: the virtues grouped together, Fortitude depicted with a column rather than a lion, Death on horseback, and the placement of the Angel (in the guise of Jove) above the World. Others are more distinctive: a horseman on the Star card, the woman and sleeping man on the Moon, and a violent scene on the Sun. Atlas as the World is also distinctive, although the luxury Tarocco Bolognese created by Mitelli in 1664 uses a similar image.

The suit cards also differ from other tarot decks. The staves are cudgels, the swords are straight, and the pages in all four suits are replaced by maids. All these features are characteristics of the so-called Portuguese suit system. The Tarocco Siciliano, like the Tarocco Bolognese, is a reduced pack, with lower pip cards of each suit omitted. In the Tarocco Siciliano, the omitted cards are the ace through 4 of staves, cups, and swords, and the 2 and 3 of coins. The ace of coins was added in the 19th century to provide a place for tax stamps, and is not needed to play the Sicilian form of the game of tarot. Thus 63 cards are used. This peculiar number results from the fact that the most popular form of the game in previous centuries was for three players; 63 cards divides evenly by 3.

The game was still being played in three small towns in Sicily when Michael Dummett researched it in the 1970s. The modern deck, illustrated here, has been made by Modiano in Trieste for several decades, and reflects earlier designs quite closely.