Suits in Italy-Cups ( Coppa), Swords ( Spade), Batons ( Bastoni), and Coins ( Denari)-were likewise in place during the same period.
The suits familiar to us were adopted from French playing cards, whose suits were standardized by the mid-fifteenth century. Additionally, there are two Jokers, which are used in some games and not in others. Instead of a 1, there is an Ace, which has the highest value. In the English-speaking world, all decks of ordinary playing cards comprise fifty-two cards in four suits-Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs, ranked in that order-with Kings, Queens, and Jacks as face cards and number (or 'pip') cards from 10 through 2. Readers unfamiliar with early European playing cards will be surprised by their total lack of uniformity. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York (MS M.630.26) Paper (pasteboard) with opaque paint on tooled gold ground 6 3/4 x 7 3/8 in.
5 of Cups, from The Visconti-Sforza Tarot, ca. Workshop of Bonifacio Bembo (Italian, Cremonese, active by 1447/48–died before 1482).
