Suit of Bells, from The Playing Cards of Peter Flötner

The Playing Cards of Peter Flötner

Compared to many of his contemporaries, Peter Flötner produced relatively few woodcuts, but included among them is the most arresting deck of cards made in post-Reformation Germany. The cards were hand painted and enhanced with gold. The backs of the cards are inscribed with musical notations and lyrics, with each suit given a particular voice: Acorns, bass; Leafs, tenor; Hearts, treble; and Bells, alto. Each suit is headed by men alone: a king, an upper knave, and an under knave. The suits each have loose thematic connections. In Acorns, five of the pip cards deal with the scatological antics of pigs, which in popular culture were equated with gluttony and lust. In Leafs, several scenes are devoted to the capers of farmers or peasants, underscoring their reputation for drunken and licentious behavior. Hearts are concerned primarily with the pastimes of the bourgeoisie and the lack of chastity. And in Bells, a number of scenes address folly, vanity, and the futility of foolish behavior. The droll lucidity of his images is a pungent reminder that card playing spawns all types of sin, effectively justifying the denunciations of the clergy and civil authorities. But in another sense, these scenes may be seen as the final flourish of imagery that developed out of the monstrous, bawdy, topsy-turvy drolleries that abound in the marginalia of fourteenth-century manuscripts. In the crude subject matter of the cards, Flötner acknowledged man’s baser instincts while warning against them. These striking cards bring to life a microcosmic view of a world long gone while animating social and moral themes that still resonate today. More than any other artist, Flötner fully exploited the conceit of playing cards as a visual polemic to convey his worldview.

Suits: Acorns, Leafs, Hearts, and Bells
12 cards in each suit: King, Upper Knave, Under Knave, Banner (10), 9 through 2
48 cards, of which 47 survive
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (GMN Sp 7418 1-47 Kapsel 516)


2 of Bells
The card has a heraldic shield bearing the arms of the d’Este family of Ferrara.

King of Bells
The king is dressed as an exotic Indian potentate: the bow and arrow, the parrot on his arm, and the elephant in the landscape all point to his distant origins.

Upper Knave of Bells
The Upper Knave is a trombonist.

Under Knave of Bells
The Under Knave, trudging along wearing wooden patterns, is a fool with a dripping nose, a sausage in his hand (a symbol of the linked sins of gluttony and lust), and a jug on his hunched back.

Banner (10) of Bells
A seated lady with a naked child holds the banner.

9 of Bells
The upper portion of an old tree stump morphs into a wooden fool.

8 of Bells
An anamorphic or attenuated fool stands between bags of money, a symbol of greed.

7 of Bells
Two tiny fools issuing out of tree stumps flank a silhouette of a fool cut from a plank.

6 of Bells
A fool and a woman encounter each other, each holding a candle; the fool points at a large pile of feces on a red cushion.

5 of Bells
Four naked children, two wielding flyswatters, cavort around a fifth on a pedestal.

4 of Bells
A man on all fours receives a thrashing on his bared behind with a faggot (a bundle of sticks) wielded by his wife.

3 of Bells
Two women brawl, one wields a basket.