Reconstruction/Restoration decks are a curiosity of the last decade, or so. (Most are not pictured here for copyright considerations.) Various tarot “experts” have asserted that the true images and coloring of the Tarot de Marseille needed to be reconstructed and restored by comparative analyses of many TdM prototypes.

The main quality of reconstruction decks that sets them apart is that their creators claim that they are reinstating the Tarot de Marseille’s true imagery and true coloring, according to their particular understanding of the esoteric Tradition.

Evidently, these creators compared many decks to arrive at their conclusions. They have used various historical reconstructive methods and seed-decks.

These reconstructed decks are redrawn, recolored, and then produced with modern printing conveniences. They typically offer more brilliant and differentiated color schemes, more clarified images (whereas on facsimile decks, the images are often obscured by age), sometimes additional images that were presumably lost in prior generations of Tarot card makers are added, and the authors finally assert that one is reading with a clarified, pure, and refurbished TdM.

Messrs. Phillipe Camoin and Alejandro Jodorowsky teamed up to create their restored Tarot de Marseille (website ).

Canadian M. Kris Hadar created a restored Le Veritable Tarot de Marseille(1996).

Spaniards, Sr. Daniel Rodés and Sra. Encarna Sánchez created their Tarot de Marsella (pictured to the right. Image of VII-Le Chariot from Tarot de Marsella. LeMat Comunicaciones. Spain), which is virtually a clone of the Camoin/Jodorowsky deck in our opinion.

Messrs. Camoin and Jodorowsky assert that the Conver pattern (Style 1 and Color Scheme 1, see below) offers much of the authentic imagery and accurate coloring that is most true to the Tradition.

A distinction of M. Jean Claude Flornoy’s Noblet Tarot and Dodal Tarot is that he restores the original images and coloring of the decks, without adding or taking anything away; they are more accurately, solely restorations. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                                  

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Modern rendition decks are simply those Marseilles Tarots that fall into the various and sundry category: They are not facsimiles, they are not classics like the Marteau/Grimaud deck or the Fournier, and they are not reconstructions or restorations. Instead, these are decks that modern artists have rendered and retain the artist’s particular idiosyncracies.

Purists may consider such decks to be childish imitations. Others may appreciate the particular aesthetic of the decks.

It is our contention that modern rendition decks are aesthetically pleasing, perhaps, but may confuse the study and application of Tarot de Marseille reading principles. Th reconstruction decks offer modern printing methods with the advantage of the restoration of lost iconography.