Folly, according to a common opinion, means acting without reason. Cesare Ripa has this to say in his Iconologia: “Non è altro l’esser pazzo, secondo il nostro modo di parlare, che far le cose senza decoro, e fuor dal comune uso de gli uomini per privazioni di discorso senza ragione verisimile o stimolo di Religione” (Being mad, according to our way of speaking, means nothing but doing things without dignity, and outside of the common use of men, due to lack of discourse without likely reason or the stimulus of Religion). In the Gospel, he who does not believe is considered a fool, and often figures of fools appear in the Bibles of the 15th and 16th Centuries, illustrating Psalm 52 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God!”.
In a 16th century Bible, I found the same depiction of the Fool as in the Florentine minchiate (figure 1): a man dressed in rags, with feathers stuck in his hair, who walks riding a stick; in his hand, he holds a pinwheel, and children appear around him (figure 2). Ripa, again, provides an identical description: “Un uomo di età virile starà ridente e a cavallo sopra una canna, nella destra mano terrà una girella di carta istromento piacevole, e trastullo de fanciulli, li quali con gran studio lo fanno girare al vento” (A man of adult age will be laughing, and riding a reed; in his right hand, he will hold a paper pinwheel, a pleasant instrument and an amusement for children, who take great care to make it turn in the wind). The same author also tells us that “reputandosi saviezza nella città ad un huomo di età matura trattare de reggimenti della famiglia e della Repubblica, Pazzia si dirà ragionevolmente alienarsi da queste attioni, per esercitare giuochi puerili e di nessun momento” (In the city, it is held to be wisdom for a man of mature age to engage in matters of the family and of the Republic, hence it will be reasonably called Folly to abstain oneself from these actions, in order to play childish games, of no import). The laughter of the Fool, which we find on the card of the so-called Tarot of Charles VI and in that of Ercole I d’ Este, is “facilmente indicio di pazzia, secondo il detto di Salomone; però si vede che gli uomini reputati savii poco ridono e Christo N.S. che fu la vera saviezza, e sapienza, non si legge, chi ridesse giammai” (easily evidence of folly, according to the words of Solomon; however, one can see that the men considered to be wise rarely laugh, and of Our Lord Christ, who was true wisdom and knowledge, we never read that he laughed). An anonymous etching of the 16th century shows a fool laughing before an angel, who covers his eyes with his hands in order not to see such an unconscionable deed (figure 3).
On the illuminated card of the Visconti-Sforza Tarots, the Fool carries feathers on his head and a stick on his shoulder (figure 4). A similar figure was painted by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padova, as an image of Stultitia (Foolishness) (figure 5). In this fresco, the Fool holds an object between his lips which virtually prevents him from speaking. The notion of folly which we find in this allegory is further increased by the presence of feathers on the head of the character. We must first of all consider that in ancient times wings, feathers and plumage were used as symbols of speed. Cartari in his work Imagini de gli Dei de gl’Antichi (Images of the Gods of the Ancients) of 1647 repeatedly mentions the attributes of Apollo-Sun. These include wings and feathers, signifying the speed of the wit of Apollo, and of the trail followed by the Sun. Regarding the plumage on the head of Mercury, the authors says this “Furono date le penne a Mercurio, perché nel parlare, di ché egli era il Dio, le parole se ne volano per l'aria non altrimenti, che se havessero l'ali. Onde Omero chiama sempre le parole veloci, alate e che hanno penne” (Feathers were given to Mercury, because, when speaking - as he was the God - his words used to fly through the air, as if they had wings. This is why Homer always spoke of words as fast, winged, and feathered). Sebastian Brant in his work Der Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools) of 1494 in sonnet LVII “On Divine Providence”, has this to say about presumptuous fools “One can even find fools who claim to gild their quilt pen with words, and believe themselves to be wise...”. The feathers on the head of the Fool thus represent the very elements which the fool is lacking in, that is speed and intellect, besides suitable words. In fact, the padlock sealing the mouth of the fool, as painted by Giotto, takes on this function, since the Fool otherwise would only speak foolish words, as described in the words of the Bible, “The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness” (Ecclesiastes 10:12, 13).
A version virtually identical to that of the Fool of the Visconti-Sforza card is a model copied from the previous original, also dating back to the 15th century, derived from the same pack of Triumphs of which we already know the cards of the Sun, of the Knave of Swords and of the Lovers of the Amedeo Cocchi collection. (The other two cards of the same collection, that is the Five of Pentacles and the Two of Cups are of a slightly later date, and belong to another pack). In Ercole I d’ Este’s Tarots, the Fool appears nearly naked. Concerning this, Ripa writes that “La Stoltizia si dipinge ignuda perché il pazzo palesa i suoi difetti ad ognuno, senza vergogna” (Foolishness is depicted naked, because the fool shows his defects to all, without any shame). In the so-called Tarots of Charles VI, the Fool wears a cap with huge ass ears, thus showing his beastly nature, and wears underwear of an incredibly modern design (figure 6). The image is very much like that of a fool shown in a codex from Bologna dating back to the second half of the 15th century (figure 7) carrying the usual stick, but in a way that it seems to cut through the palm of his hand (an allegorical relation with the stigmata of Our Lord) as can be seen, in a clearer fashion, in a woodcut in the work, mentioned above, by Brant. The presence of a reed, which has the same function as the stick, is justified in this way: “Chi mercede illimitata vuol godere, l’appoggio di una canna potrà avere fragile” (He who wishes to enjoy without limits, will have but the support of a fragile reed) (Sonnet LVII).
An iconographic variant concerns the representation of the Fool to be found in the so-called Mantegna Tarots, where a dog attacks the thighs of a poor man (figure 8). This figurative typology will remain stable throughout the later production of tarots. A kind of burden will also appear on the top of the stick, supported against a shoulder. The presence of a dog near a poor wanderer is typical in Medieval art, and provides a touch of realism, since this animal would bark and often attack vagabonds approaching houses in order to beg for charity. A well known example can be found in the representation of the Prodigal Son (figure 9) and of the Path of Life in Bosch’s Hay Triptych. Regarding this, there is an extremely interesting 15th century etching by Israel van Meckenem (figure 10). The diabolical symbolism associated with wind instruments - pipe and bagpipe, contrasting with the “celestial” string instruments - shows the negative character of the etching. On the other hand, the presence of the dog relates the jester-fool with the poor, thus making a bridge between the two iconographical variants.
We must now consider another aspect of folly, this time associated with its mystical and sacred vision. The Letter to the Corinthians was very much in favour during the Renaissance. Some of its words reflect the relation which exists between Folly and the Divine: “For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness” (I, 1, 18); “Let no man deceive himself. If any man thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (I, 3, 18-19). It is only by giving up material goods that man can reach God, according to Christian thought.
The Fool, because he possesses this prerogative, was at times seen as someone inspired, just a step away from the Divine. It is always Brant who satirizes about vainglorious fools: “They believe that God has benefited them, and has left them His gifts for ever” (Sonnet LVII). Concerning the divine nature of folly in relation to tarots, there is an enlightening manuscript by an anonymous 16th century author, which I discovered at the Este Library of Modena and later submitted to the attention of Pietro Marsilli. In order to conquer the heat of a lady at the court, a certain Mamma Riminaldi, the anonymous author found no better remedy than that of taking a card out a pack of tarots, the Fool “who is divine brain”. This is why the oldest known list of tarots, the Sermones de ludo cum aliis, places “El matto” (The Fool) next to “El mondo” (The World), that is God the Father.