Visconti

Visconti, Italian family that ruled Milan from the 13th cent. until 1447. In the 12th cent. members of the family received the title of viscount, from which the name is derived.

Ottone Visconti, 1207-95, archbishop of Milan, was recognized (1277) as lord of the city after he had defeated the opposition of the Della Torre family, established leaders of the popular party. To keep the lordship in the family, he had Matteo I Visconti, 1255-1322, elected captain of the people in 1287. Exiled (1302-10) by the Della Torre faction, Matteo returned with the help of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII and became imperial vicar. He established his overlordship in all Lombard cities, but Guelph opposition (see Guelphs and Ghibellines) obliged him to retire (1322) in favor of his son, Galeazzo I Visconti, 1277?-1328, who continued the struggle against popes and Guelphs. Galeazzo's son Azzone Visconti, 1302-39, consolidated the state, made peace with the pope, and increased the Milanese territories. At his death his two uncles, Lucchino and Giovanni, were proclaimed dukes.

Lucchino Visconti, 1292-1349, who in fact ruled alone, continued his predecessor's conquests, acquiring territory in Piedmont, Tuscany, and the present Ticino canton of Switzerland. The expansion of Milan aroused the other Italian states, and coalitions were repeatedly formed against Lucchino and his successors. Lucchino's brother, Giovanni Visconti, 1290-1354, took over the government in 1349. At his death the Milanese possessions were divided among his three nephews, Matteo II, Galeazzo II, and Bernabò.

Matteo II Visconti, 1319-55, was probably poisoned by his brothers, who divided his possessions. Galeazzo II Visconti, 1320-78, an able diplomat, began the transformation of his various communal lordships into an organized state. He was a patron of the arts and letters and a friend of Petrarch. At Pavia, where he held his court, he built the castle and founded the university and the library. Bernabò Visconti, 1323-85, ruled in Milan. His intrigues and territorial ambitions kept him at war with the pope, Florence, Venice, and Savoy. He died in prison, arrested by his nephew, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, 1351?-1402, the son of Galeazzo II.

Left the sole ruler of all Visconti possessions, Gian Galeazzo embarked on a systematic program of conquest, first in Venetia, then in central Italy. He withstood hostile coalitions partly by skillful diplomacy, partly by employing the best condottieri of his time. He bought (1395) his investiture as hereditary duke of Milan from Holy Roman Emperor Wenceslaus and defeated (1401) Holy Roman Emperor Rupert when Rupert sought to restore imperial rule over Italy. Gian Galeazzo's ambition was to establish an Italian kingdom, but he died of the plague while preparing a final attack on Florence, his chief enemy.

Gian Galeazzo reformed and centralized the government and promoted the arts and industries. During his reign the cathedral of Milan and the Certosa di Pavia were begun. He allied his family with the ruling house of France by marrying Isabella, daughter of John II. His daughter by a second marriage, Valentina, married Louis d'Orléans; it was through her that Louis XII and Francis I of France derived their claim to Milan in the Italian Wars.

During the regency of Gian Galeazzo's widow for her son, Giovanni Maria Visconti, 1389-1412, many cities were lost and political chaos prevailed. On reaching his majority Giovanni Maria revealed himself a dissolute and cruel ruler. He was assassinated, and the duchy passed to his brother, Filippo Maria Visconti, 1392-1447, who employed both diplomacy and force to restore the duchy. In his wars with Venice and Florence he was at first aided, then opposed, by the condottierri Carmagnola. His daughter and sole heir, Bianca Maria, married Francesco I Sforza, who became duke of Milan after the fall of the short-lived Ambrosian Republic (1447-50), set up after Filippo Maria's death.

Visconti, Ennio Quirino, 1751-1818, Italian archaeologist. He was conservator of the Capitoline Museum, Rome, and one of the consuls of the brief Roman republic (1798). A political refugee in Paris from 1799, he became curator of antiquities at the Louvre (1799) and professor and member of the Institut de France (1803). He wrote Iconographie grecque (1808) and the first volume of Iconographie romaine (4 vol., 1817-26), which was completed by Antoine Mongez. His father, Giovanni Battista Antonio Visconti, 1722-84, was prefect of antiquities at Rome from 1768. He reorganized the Museo Pio-Clementino at the Vatican and edited the first volume of its noted catalog with the assistance of his son, who continued the work alone.

Visconti, Luchino, 1906-76, Italian film director and writer, b. Milan as Luchino Visconti de Modrone. One of Italy's most acclaimed directors, Visconti has been called the father of neorealism for his early films Ossessione (1942) and La terra trema (1948). His increasingly lavish productions created a heightened sense of melodrama. His late films explore the nature of decadence. Among his other films are Rocco and His Brothers (1960), The Leopard (1964), The Damned (1969), Death in Venice (1971), Ludwig (1973), and The Innocent (1979).

orig. Don Luchino Visconti, count di Modrone

(born Nov. 2, 1906, Milan—died March 17, 1976, Rome) Italian film and theatre director. Born into the nobility, he became an assistant to Jean Renoir in 1935. He directed his first film, Ossessione (1942), in a style foreshadowing the Neorealism of Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica. His later films include the documentary-style drama La terra trema (1948), Senso (1954), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), The Leopard (1963, Golden Palm), The Damned (1969), and Death in Venice (1971). As a stage director, he introduced to Italy works by Jean Cocteau, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams, and he staged operas starring Maria Callas that combined realism and spectacle.

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orig. Don Luchino Visconti, count di Modrone

(born Nov. 2, 1906, Milan—died March 17, 1976, Rome) Italian film and theatre director. Born into the nobility, he became an assistant to Jean Renoir in 1935. He directed his first film, Ossessione (1942), in a style foreshadowing the Neorealism of Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica. His later films include the documentary-style drama La terra trema (1948), Senso (1954), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), The Leopard (1963, Golden Palm), The Damned (1969), and Death in Venice (1971). As a stage director, he introduced to Italy works by Jean Cocteau, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams, and he staged operas starring Maria Callas that combined realism and spectacle.

Learn more about Visconti, Luchino with a free trial on Britannica.com.

The Visconti-Sforza tarot deck is the oldest known Tarot deck. Then still called Trionfi ("trump") cards, commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti , Duke of Milan, and by his successor Francesco Sforza.

The name Visconti-Sforza tarot deck is used to refer to fragments of up to 15 different decks found in various museums and libraries around the world, but of those decks some consist of only a few face cards or a single card.

The three most famous decks are:1) The Pierpont-Morgan Bergamo Visconti-Sforza deck, (also known as the Colleoni-Baglioni deck) Seventy-four of the original seventy-eight cards remain: twenty trump cards from which the name came, 15 face cards and 39 "pip" cards without a character) 35 are in the Pierpont-Morgan library in New York, 26 in the Accademia Carrara and 13 in the private collection of the Colleoni family in Bergamo. The trump and face cards have a gold background, while the "pip" cards are cream with a coloured flower motif. 2) The Cary-Yale Visconti-Sforza deck (also known as the Visconti di Modrone deck) Named after the Cary family collection of Card Games, absorbed into the Yale University library in 1967. A study dates it to 1466. Sixty-seven cards (11 trumps, 17 face cards and 39 "pip" cards) remain, so assuming the same number of trumps as the Pierpont-Morgan deck, there would have been a total of 86 cards. Both the date and original number of cards are disputed. The Cary-Yale is the only western deck with six face cards "Damsel" and "Lady on horse" are added to the traditional King, Queen, Knight and Jack. All trump cards have a gold background, while the non-face cards have a silver background.3) The Brera-Brambilla Visconti-Sforza deck Named after Giovanni Brambilla, who acquired the cards in Venice in 1900. From 1971 the deck was in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. Apparently commissioned from Bonifacio Bembo (but also probably with contribution by the Zavattari family) by Francesco Sforza in 1463, it consists of 48 cards with only two remaining trumps - the Emperor and the Wheel of Fortune. All face cards have a gold background while the non-face cards have a silver background. The seven remaining face cards are: Knight and Jack (also known as Valet, or Knave) of Cups; Knight and Jack of Coins; Knight, Jack and Queen of Batons. The number cards are almost complete, missing only the four of Coins.

External links

• Tarot history 15th century
• Visconti-Sforza deck at tarothistory.com