Devises Cartes
A 56-card playing deck drawn from the Renaissance emblem tradition
Lyon, 1557 — where the same woodblocks that printed emblems also produced playing cards
Where Emblem Meets Card
In the 16th century, Lyon was home to 172 card manufacturers—one for every 350 residents. The same woodcut techniques that produced Claude Paradin's Devises Héroïques also created playing cards for export across Europe.
Devises Cartes reunites these parallel traditions: emblems that teach through symbol, rendered on cards meant to be shuffled, dealt, and contemplated.
Learn more about the project →The Four Suits
Flies
Patience, persistence, the small overcoming the great
Birds
Faith, transcendence, the soul's flight
Wheat
Cycles, sustenance, death and renewal
Arrows
Direction, ambition, decisive action