Outlander (Season 5) - Tarot de Marseille

[Morsoth]

I'm up-to-date with Outlander, after having binge-watched all the seasons in few months!

 

There is a tarot scene in Season 5, Episode 8 "Famous Last Words". This is set in August 1771, and around the middle of the episode, Marsali cast a tarot card for herself, L'amoureux (The Lover). Then, she do a spread for Roger (who has escaped a hanging, three months earlier). Obviously, the first card to be cast is Le Pendu (The Hanged Man)! Roger freaks out and Marsali leaves... She could have say that the card only means that he needs to look at a situation differently, but they never do that in movies/tv series!

 

My first reaction was to note the episode, so that I could try to find the actual tarot deck the cards are from. I did my research, because I have A LOT of tarot cards images saved in my computer, so I spent some time to match the card from the scene with the images I have. The Lover card seems to fit 100% the one from Claude Burdel's tarot de Marseille, released in 1751 (20 years before the episode, which seems very plausible). But then, the Hangman's card has something that I never saw on a Hanged Man before... There is a tree behind the character, and a large branch horizontally, behind the character's arms. So, my guess is that the production altered a deck to make it more... unique?

 

I would like to know what you think about that. Could it be really a Claude Burdel's 1751 deck, slightly altered for the episode, or do you know a deck that could be a better match?

 

Here are two screen captures, with the matching cards from Claude Burdel's 1751 edition:

 

 

 

[Mister]

19 hours ago, Morsoth said:

Could it be really a Claude Burdel's 1751 deck, slightly altered for the episode, or do you know a deck that could be a better match?

 

No better match.

The cards look way alike, with a differing in colour (which may not even be due to the cards but due to the camera/filter used) plus a difference in format.

 

Looks like they took the picture from a pack fitting the timeline (nice detail), and slapped it onto slightly wider cards, which would explain the "compression" - probably for ease of recognition on screen.

[gregory]

It almost looks as though they were trying to suggest a cross - as in the crucifixion. I have never seen the series, - would that be in any way relevant ? I think you have the deck right, too.