Opera Tarot, Anne Boleyn & Jane Seymour
The same story which inspired Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and its recent TV adaptation, also inspired the Opera composer Donizetti in the 19th century. His ‘Anna Bolena’ is one of four operas he wrote about the Tudor period, and the duet between Henry VIII’s second and third wives, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, is full of high drama as you can hear in the Youtube clip shown below.
In opera, all of human relations – and our existential concerns – are emphasized and often highly coloured, making it an ideal medium in which to explore precisely those issues that concern the Tarot. For this reason, inspired by the beautiful paintings of artist Linda Sutton, Stephanie and I are working alongside Linda on a new Tarot deck: Opera Tarot.
Here is Linda’s image for the Queen of Wands, which depicts the soprano, Anna Netrebko as Anne Boleyn in Donizetti’s opera, in attire similar to that in her portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Over the coming months we’ll show more images from the collection as we work on it!
4 Responses to “Opera Tarot, Anne Boleyn & Jane Seymour”
What a great idea! Look forward to seeing more!
This is a great idea! (Sorry to nitpick though, but Anne of Boleyn was Henry’s second wife and Jane Seymour his third.)
Oops, I meant Anne Boleyn, not Anne ‘of’ Boleyn. đ
Thank you River! Have changed post! đ
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