217 of the 228 essays on the history of Tarot and 19 of the 22 essays on the iconology of the Major Arcana written by Andrea Vitali are not available online. All the essays will be published soon.

 

Translation by Michael S. Howard, 2020

 

From Bartolomeo Bocchini (Bologna, 1604-1648/1653) we have identified a dialogue within the poem Della Corona Macheronica (On the Macaronic Crown), written in the Venetian dialect, narrating a Tarocchi game between Zagno and Zagna, both based on characters from the Commedia dell'Arte, where Zagna is the woman Zagno loves so much even if she does not show such strong attachment towards him. The poet describes the man's complaints about how she has treated him, so badly that he says at the end that he wants to abandon her as soon as possible, given that if he did not do so, he could be counted as a new Bagattino, a person of little worth imprisoned between two Zaffi (guards).

Before getting to the heart of the text, to make it better understood, let us briefly review the author's life. Starting to tread the boards of the Commedia dell’Arte, he chose to name himself Zan Muzzina, since his family was originally from Sant’Agata Bolognese, near the Muzza Canal. Zan was for Zanni (dialect form of Giovanni or Gianni), the character of the servant in the Commedia dell'Arte, originally depicted as a poor and ignorant peasant from Bergamo who then became on the one hand, a clever and intriguing servant, like Brighella, and on the other, the foolish and ridiculous servant Harlequin. It was Bocchini who called that character Zagno, a name not accepted by many, as the author writes to the “Courteous Reader” in the volume of his collected works:

“For many days (you who are fond of my Zagnescan pen), I have not made myself heard with the usual Zagnarie. So, you may have believed I was dead or that the Zagni, scolding me, sent me away for the many mistakes I made in my previous Zagnerie. They cannot tolerate in any way these names Zagno and Zagna and believe that I must absolutely say and write Zanni and Zanna” 1.

The latter, of course, are the usual names for the “zanies” in Commedia dell’Arte.

His passion for comedy alternated with that for painting, preferring portraits of beggars, ham actors, charlatans - much the same world he gave life to on the stage and also depicted in his poetic compositions, so much so that in the dedication to the work Muscuglio di Pensieri by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri da Cento, called Guercino, Bocchini wrote, “Sō Zagno frà i Pittor, Pittor frà i Zagni” (I am Zagno among the Painters, Painter among the Zagni). 2

As a young man, due to an unhappy love affair, he left Florence for Rome, where he became a soldier. Returning to his native Bologna, again due to amorous vicissitudes, he took refuge in Venice, where he was much appreciated in the role of a Zanni in various performances, as well as for composing poems and songs in the Venetian dialect. But fate continued to be unkind to him, as he was reduced to poverty, then to being imprisoned and ultimately falling ill. Having recovered from his misfortunes, he returned to Bologna where he led a life without any worries, neither in love nor money, and started to write in Italian, including the Piva Dissonante (Dissonant Piva [a type of bagpipe]) and Le Pazzie de' Savi, o Le Lambertaccio (The Craziness of the Wise, or the Lambertaziad).

Several of his works were published undated, circulating first in loose leaflets; an example is the first part of On the Macaronic Crown, prior to 1635; the first edition of the second partis also unknown to us, coming down to us in second and third impressions, of 1646 and 1648 respectively.

The adjective Maccheronico here (less commonly, maccarònico or macarònico) derives from maccherone, which in the Latin expression maccheronico, is equivalent in Latin to “cooking,” and is used by humanists to satirize the bad Latin of the cooks in monasteries and convents. The term highlights an artificial language whose lexicon is in part vernacular, indeed often dialectal, and in part Latin, but with Latin morphology, syntax, metrics and prosody. Starting from the end of the fifteenth century, it was used in compositions that are usually poetic, burlesque and satirical, but sometimes also of a serious nature. We have already encountered examples; in fact the earliest uses we have found of the word tarochi in its various spellings ), even if the composition we are considering now is more burlesque than Latinate.

Concluding the listing of his works, Il Trionfo di Scappino, First Part, and Del trionfo della Zagnara, Second Part, appeared in 1648, while the Absalon, a tragedy in one prologue and five acts kept at the Bologna University Library (BUB Ms. 1882), remains unpublished.

One feature of On the Macaronic Crown 3 making it of special interest to us is that in recounting Zagno’s complaints, the author refers to one of the Triumphs in each of its six-line stanzas, excluding only the Four Papi, thereby transmitting to us the order of the Bolognese Triumphs as then known, making it the second earliest that does so, after the Lotto Festivole (Festive Lottery) by Croce in 1602.

The order of Triumphs as reported in the succession of stanzas is Dummett’s Type A, with the Angel high and the virtues together, in its specifically Bolognese subtype where Fortitude is high, then Justice, then Temperance. Unlike Croce’s composition, the Chariot is below the virtues rather than above:

Anzolo (Angel = Judgment)
Mondo (World)
Sol (Sun)
Luna (Moon)
Stella (Star)
Saetta (Arrow = Lightning-Bolt = Tower)
Diavolo (Devil)
Morte (Death)
Traditor (Traitor = Hanged Man)
Vecchio (Old Man =Hermit)
Roda (Wheel [of Fortune])
Forza (Strength)
Giusta (Just, i.e. Justice)
Tēpra (Temper, i.e. Temperance)
Carro (Cart or Chariot)
Amor (Love)
Matto (The position of the Fool above the Magician is here to be explained by the needs of the narrative)
Bagattin (Bagattino = Magician)

Here we report the verses with which the Second Part of On The Macaronic Crown begins, concerning a game of Tarocchi between Zagno and Zagna; we will try to explain the terms from the game and give an approximate translation of each six-line stanza. The first two stanzas describe the game, while the remaining twenty-two utilize the names of the Triumphs in order from the top, with a possible diversion from that order at the end. For now, a few of the game terms will be left untranslated, with their rather complicated explanation to follow.

 

OF THE MACARONIC CROWN - SECOND PART
He plays Tarocchi with his Woman, and smeschia all the granda.

 

(For the verses in the original language see the Italian version) 

 

My woman challenges me
    To play a game,
    And with the Tarocchi in hand she wants only for me to lose,
    To empty my pocket;
    For this she always does everything possible,
    Giving me Fava (beans, but also meaning “idiot,” as in the English word “beanhead”) for keeping score.

 

She increases the tension between us
    Because she wanted two of my rivals [in love]
    To play [also], with whom I have nothing to do,
    Since we had agreed to that effect [referring to previous events]
    And this obstinately makes me
    Take all the Granda in a row. 3

 

Regarding the terms smeschia, after the title, and smenschiar later, the poet in another work actually attempts to explain himself for readers unfamiliar with the Bolognese game, as we will see later. Smenschiar, also called sminchiar, is a strategy chiefly used when two partners play against two others. Pedini in 1754 defines it as: “Giocate Trionfo, o per ordinario s'intende il Trionfo maggiore" (Play a Triumph, ordinarily meaning your highest Triumph) 4. In the game with Zagna, however, there are no partners, due to Zagno’s jealousy. So, it refers to his use of that strategy by himself.

 

Granda has a specifically Bolognese reference as well, to a scoring combination involving at least the Angel plus two of the World, the Sun, and the Moon, then going down through the Triumphs from there, as far as one can go without interruption, but where both the Fool and the Bagattino can serve as wild cards (although not consecutively) substituting for missing cards. 5

But probably Bocchini means to include all the Triumphs, since he uses the word tutta, meaning “all,” and the poem indeed does tick them all off in order (except the four papi, simply omitted), interwoven into a series of complaints by Zagno against Zagna. So “smenchiar tutta la Granda a la sfilada” would seem to mean “play the highest Triumph in one’s hand to accomplish the maximum Granda, that is, the combination that uses all the Triumphs in a row starting from the Angel.”

 

Let us continue:

If I told her that she is a villain,
    It would be in vain,
    Because if I shouted it to the wall
    It would be the same thing,
    And for this I for sure want to reach for a knife,
    Unless the Angel stops my hand.

 

It is a great saying, that she does not want
    Me to get bored,
    With her giving me all kinds of disgust and spite,
    Showing by these effects
    That she is so crazy
    That in the World there is no equal.

 

See how she strives
    Never to have sheaves or wood
    In the house, not even bread or good wine,
    But in being a rascal
    She lives on the ground [that is, without comfort, in order to soften her lover so that he will give her what she needs],

    so I think
    That she warms up in the Sun when it's cold.

 

She is indeed destined,
    Because of her ways, in hardship
    To live out her days, because as a woman of little
    She lives every moment like a goose,
    So that if to her someone said, or affirmed,
    That the Moon is in the well, she’d believe it.

 

It is true in every way that in the face
    She looks like a Narcissus [extremely beautiful]
    And without help of water [to wash], or make-up,
    One knows at once
    That even if she does not care,
    She shines like a great Star.

 

So, since she pleases me a lot,
    I would like to stay in peace;
    But because people are in the house every day,
    It happens that one hears
    A clatter and a din,
    The Lightning does not make such a racket.

 

Every day she hangs herself [stresses herself out]
    Just fighting to put herself in the right,
    And since she can’t spite me shamelessly,
    She insults and teases me;
    So I try to suffer as little as I can,
    Because the Devil [tension] falls on me too much.

 

I have surely toward her
    To do some madness,
    Because, my companions, I do not want to live such a love,
    So driven by grief
    I could make without this [without grieving me]
    The Death of someone happen quickly.

 

In this I will be allowed
    To make an effort now,
    That in my necessity the law forbids,
    And by always living under her,
    Everyone takes me for a fool,
    But I am a Traitor if I don’t do her in.

 

Despite this, I am still tempted,
    As if I acquired a ban [a law]
    Making me find a new storm every day,
    But I am no longer a young man,
    On the contrary I see in the mirror
    That this woman’s pains have made an Old Man.

 

I would like, with haste,
    That you do your stupidities [literally, shit] with me under
    A topsail conforming to my practice,

    Wrapping [also meaning embracing] it at the hole [of the wooden structure formed by a series of holes that were used

    to draw out the sails in steps];

    That is first, in contrast,
    But the Wheel [rudder] does not hold, because it’s broken.

 

I need a good wit,
    So not to go out of my mind,
    Or not to fall into some craziness [crazy action]
    From love of that woman,
    Which keeps me all day in tension,
    And I’m sure my neck will break by [its] Strength.

 

Because of her I keep
    The sword and the shield [or iron glove?]
    And I always wear the breast-plate [or chain-mail?] and helmet,
    Since this unfortunate woman
    With some deception
    Always ‘Justs [adjusts] her aim to do me harm.

 

Although I am indeed angry,
    I have not become so mad [in the sense of crazy]
    As not to study every matter she prepares [against me];
    On the contrary, I avoid danger
    Because I reason and I attempt
    To temper [moderate] in me that fury stirring my indignation.

 

Armed with patience
    I do such penance
    As to give what enthusiasm is possible to this beast
    Devoid of any modesty,
    And then rightly reasoning
    From the little fun [she gives me], a Wagon [full] of disgust.

 

I see for sure
    That my fate so hard
    Has subjected me to misfortunes and hardships,
    And among a thousand torments,
    I glimpse, with great pain, [that]
    Bitter Love from a woman causes harm.

 

Ah, cursed be
    Whoever made me with this woman
    Fall in love, because I think,
    To confess the truth,
    Of cutting my throat
    Or throwing myself, like a Madman, into a well.

 

So that, in conclusion, I promise
    To want to leave her shortly,
    Just to provide a fairy tale [fantasy ending],
    Because this rascal
    Will slowly make me become
    Between two Cops [guards], a new Bagattino [i.e., person of little worth].

 

It might seem that the poem has taken the Bagattino out of order. Usually, it is true, the Matto is last. But in the Bolognese game it, too, was a wild card, so that the poet can choose whichever he likes for his finale. Either would have worked.

 

 Notes

 

1 Raccolta di Tutte l’Opere di Bartolomeo Bocchini; detto Zan Muzzina (Modona: Bartolomeo Soliani, 1665), n.p.: “Sono molto giorni (ò affettionato alla mia penna Zagnesca) ch’io non mi son fatto sentire con le solite Zagnarie; Onde ti credera, i ò che sia morto, ò che i Zagni à calze sciolte m’habbian datto un cavallo per molti errori commessi nelle Zagnate di prima. Cotesti in alcuna maniera non possono tolerare questo nome di Zagno, e Zagna, e tengono opinione, che assolutamente io gli habbi à proferire per Zanni e Zanna.”

2 Miscuglio di Pensieri. Rime Zannesche, Prima e Seconda Parte, di Bartolomeo Bocchini, detto Zan Muzzina della Valle Retirada, (Modona: Bartolomeo Soliani, 1647), p. 11.

3 Vincenzo Maria Pedini, Spiegazione del Giuoco del Tarochino, Bologna, Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio Ms. Gozzadini 140 40v-55r, c. 1746 (currently accessible online): “Questa parola io non sò, che in verun altro discorso significhi cosa alcuna fuorchè in questo gioco, ove senza derivazione alcuna vuol dire Giocare Trionfo, e per ordinario s’intende il Trionfo maggiore” (This word I do not know, if in true discourse it signifies anything except in this game, where without derivation it is to say, Play Triumph, ordinarily meaning the highest Triumph.” That would mean the highest Triumph in the other’s hand, since it is a request from one player to another. It is a strategy that continues beyond one trick, if both agree to use it. The c. 1746 dating of the Pedini manuscript is that of Lorenzo Cuppi, “Tarocchino Bolognese: Due Nuovi Manoscritti Scoperti e Alcune Osservazioni – Parte I“. The Playing-Card 30, No. 2 (Oct.-Dec. 2002), p. 80.

4 Vincenzo Maria Pedini, Spiegazione del Giuoco del Tarochino, Bologna, Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio Ms. Gozzadini 140 40v-55r, c. 1746 (currently accessible online): “Questa parola io non sò, che in verun altro discorso significhi cosa alcuna fuorchè in questo gioco, ove senza derivazione alcuna vuol dire Giocare Trionfo, e per ordinario s’intende il Trionfo maggiore” (This word I do not know, if in true discourse it signifies anything except in this game, where without derivation it is to say, Play Triumph, ordinarily meaning the highest Triumph.” That would mean the highest Triumph in the other’s hand, since it is a

5 Pedini, Spiegazione, p. 2: “Così nella Granda l’Angelo con due Trionfi susseguenti segnano dieci, con trè quindici, e così sino al fine“. (Thus in the Granda the Angel with two successive Triumphs marks you ten, with three fifteen, and so to the end.) In this scoring combination, only two of the three cards from World to Moon are needed, if one has the Fool or the Bagattino to substitute for one of them. After that, there can be a gap of two cards, if the player has both substitutes. The term Granda also refers to the Triumphs as a whole. On this Carlo Pisarri says in 1754, “La quinta sequenza de' Trionfi, cioè la maggiore detta la Granda, quella ancora si descriverà per precedenza” (The fifth sequence of the Triumphs, that is, the superior, called the Granda, will again be described by precedence). He then lists all the Triumphs in order (Carlo Pisarri, Istruzioni necessarie per chi volesse imparare il giuoco dilettevole delli Tarocchini bolognesi [Bologna, 1754], p. 16.)

6 B. Bocchini, La seconda parte della corona macheronica cit., pp. 4-8.