Apart from a few fancy decks commissioned by noble houses and painted by hand, the earliest Tarot cards which have survived to our days are printed decks from the 16th century. Until the middle of the 19th century the method of production remained the same. Black lines were printed on large paper sheets from ink-smeared woodcut plates. These were designed by master artisans. To add the colors, thin boards with cut-out shapes (one for each color) were put on the printed sheets and smeared over with paint, a technique known as “stencil coloring”. Finally, the colored sheets were glued on stiff cardstock and cut into single cards. This method made possible a mass production of affordable cards for the use of players and gamblers all over Europe.
Initially, card makers from different regions of Italy, France and other countries printed different versions of the Tarot. But in the 17th and the 18th centuries the city of Marseille in southern France became a leading center of card production. Its printers adopted a standard model for the Tarot cards. The decks that they created over the years varied in the elaboration of details and the richness of the coloring, but the main themes and elements of each card remained the same.
The Marseille model was not a purely local invention. Similar decks were already being produced in southern France and northern Italy in the 16th century, and many of the basic elements can be traced back to the earliest popular decks which have survived to our days. For all we know, it may be quite close to the original version of the Tarot as it was first created. But the Marseille card makers have given this model its mature form. Their role has also been important in propagating it as their products became increasingly popular all over the country. When the French Cabbalists in Paris began to study the Tarot, they used card decks which were produced in Marseille. Under their influence the traditional model of the Tarot, which later became standard tool for divination and mysticism, came to be known as “The Tarot of Marseille”.
The writings of de Gebelin, Levy and their followers were not only central in the French school of Tarot, but also served as the starting point for the English school. As a result, both the French and the English schools have accepted the Tarot de Marseille as the genuine model of the traditional cards. Yet during the 20th century, these schools have diverged in their attitudes towards the original illustrations.