decks

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

. He especially worked on restoring the Jean Noblet and Jean Dodal decks.

Tarot contribution

Jean-Claude Flornoy has reproduced a number of early decks

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

 in the historical Tarot of Marseille and other early French pattern. He brought back to life the Historic decks

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

, mainly conserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France

Bibliothèque nationale de France

The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...

 in Paris. Contributing to save a part of the occidental patrimony.

Biography

Jean-Claude Flornoy (Paris, 1950-2011) was a 'Cartier-enlumineur' living and working in Sainte-Suzanne

Sainte-Suzanne

Sainte-Suzanne may refer to a number of people* Susanna * Susanna * Saint Suzanne, a number of saints.* Saints Tiburtius and Susanna, a saint whose feast day is August 11....

,France. Following studies centered around philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 and psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, he worked for 15 years as potter-ceramist.

He has devoted 20 years to the study of the Tarots of the French (Marseille) Tradition. In 1996 he undertook an oversized restoration of the tarot of Nicolas Conver (Marseille, 1760). His aim was to faithfully bring this traditional imagery

Image

An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...

 back to life in all its original freshness. He then revived large-sized versions of other historic tarots from originals preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris: Jean Noblet (Paris, c. 1650), Jean Dodal (Lyon, 1701) and a number of trumps from Jacques Viéville (Paris, c. 1650). It was in painting each arcane

Major Arcana

The Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...

 on giant canvases (220 cm by 110 cm) that he was able to come to 'understand' the way the images are operative in themselves. He regularly transports them for exhibitions, and proposes conference-workshops in a variety of tarot-related contexts.

Books

2007 " Le pèlerinage des bateleurs" (only in French)

1992 The Journey of the Soul, being a translation of Pèlerinage de l'âme.

Decks

The following decks have been reproduced in high-quality and handmade, trumps:

Jean Dodal, circa 1701

Jean Noblet, circa 1650

The following decks have been industrially reproduced:

Jean Noblet, 1650

Jean Dodal, 1701 (to be released in 2009)

Website

Tarot-History.com

Le Tarot.com