Tryptych Geographica de Naipes

The Tryptych is designed as a visual aid for my playing cards class, in hopes to clarify the origins of the French suited playing cards that appeared in the mid fifteenth century now labeled international. This is an ongoing project, and I will continue to build on it.
The Tryptych is composed of three folding panels. The interior contains a map produced in the style of Sebastian Munster’s Geographia 1540. This map is intended to clarify evolutionary steps in the development of playing card patterns in Europe.

The exterior is intended to protect the map, as well as provide a short explanation of the same; that the German suits were modified to accommodate both German suited and Spanish suited markets, simply by shading. The suit of carreaux (diamonds) is simply an easier shape to cut a stencil than a circle (bells) is.

http://cards.old.no/tree/