Philibert -- Le Florentin
erotic cards • 52 cards, plus 2 jokers, and 1 advertising card

Publisher Philibert from Paris produced a number of decks between the years 1954 and 1960 under the name "Les Editions Philibert". All their decks were printed by Draeger Freres.

In 1955 they produced the much sought-after "Le Florentin" deck. These cards were manufactured in a limited edition of 12,000 numbered copies, all of which were sold out almost immediately. Many collectors regard this to be the nicest deck of cards ever made.

Artist Paul Emile Becat reputedly took four years to design and create the memorable images in the deck. The court cards show pictures of the Italian Renaissance featuring illustrations of classic stories with themes ranging from amorous adventures to murder.

An article about the deck was published in the Spring, 1962 edition of Eros magazine, with the following information about Becat's inspiration for the images:

"For many of his illustrations Becat drew upon a set of paintings by Renaissance masters which the monk Savonrola had destroyed in 1496 because they revealed too much of the intrigue and sordidness of Borgia family life. Savonrola was greatly beholden to the Borgias. Detailed descriptions of these paintings had been preserved, however, and it was from them that Becat was able to paint a number of his miniatures. The balance of his pictures he based on other Florentine themes."

The deck displayed here is a French edition (serial number 2304) with court-card indices as R, D, V; however, english edition decks, with indices K, Q, J were also made.