Ediciones del Prado - Piacentine Cards

7/31/2026

Ediciones del Prado - Piacentine Cards - 1884 (Reproduction)

Today's featured deck exhibits the Piacentine pattern, a 2004 facsimile from the Ediciones del Prado collection, titled "Deck of Piecentine cards. Italy, XIX century (1884)", shortened a bit in the post title for brevity. It reproduces a piece produced by card maker Giuseppe Beghi S.A., established in 1821 and initially based in Piacenza before relocating its operations to Milan

The descriptive label—like all entries in this collection—gives us a bit of context upfront, showing that it's relatively contemporary with L. Lamperti's deck, which we examined in a previous post.

Less ornate than the other variants previously reviewed, the artwork here is sparser in detail, showing fewer decorative elements across both pip and court cards—such as the lack of human faces depicted on the suit of Coins. Additionally, the line work is somewhat thicker and coarser, though without giving the impression of a "crude" rendering. These traits suggest the use of woodcut printing (although I haven't been able to confirm this), which would account for its rather unpolished, handcrafted appearance despite being more recent than Lamperti's piece.

Now let's examine the differences and similarities with the Lamperti and Modiano versions. The aces remain almost identical, featuring the crowned eagle with the tax stamp on the Coins, and the cherub with the scimitar on the Swords; Cups and Batons follow suit. While these compositions stay very consistent overall, today's pack leans closer to the modern version by Modiano.

The court cards show an interesting quirk when analyzed across all three decks, revealing a neat little "internal pattern." First off, in the 1884 Beghi deck, we see full-body human figures instead of double-headed ones, which is hardly unexpected since that was standard for Piacentine packs of the period. The real surprise surfaces when comparing them by side: the knaves and kings share very similar poses and details all around, yet the knights and their mounts feature matching poses and attire in the Modiano and Beghi decks, while looking completely different in Lamperti’s 1861 rendition. As we examine more decks sharing this pattern, we'll see how this peculiarity develops.

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As with other decks from the Ediciones del Prado collection, the quality is acceptable in terms of both cardstock and printing. Regarding the latter, while it isn't among the best I've seen, the resolution is high enough to make out the subtle details of these historical cards. Credit where it's due, considering the digitization of these centuries-old packs was done over twenty years ago.

I'd also like to say a few words about this collection. Ediciones del Prado, now defunct, released this series as weekly installments sold at newsstands, which included a deck with an accompanying spec sheet, as well as a magazine issue that compiled into a three-volume encyclopedia upon completion. The decks were produced with the endorsement of the Fournier Museum and the city council of Vitoria-Gasteiz by an unknown printing company, which, according to some sources, might be located in China (a claim I haven't been able to verify). The series comprised 81 decks spanning several centuries of playing card history, although the specific models varied depending on the country of distribution. Nowadays, most of them remain fairly easy to find still sealed at reasonable prices, save for a few elusive packs that have earned something of a "cult status."