From Touchstone TarotTM by Kat Black
Four of Swords
Meanings
Sanctuary. A respite from conflict. A time of quiet solitude and recovery. As you retreat from noise and chaos, your path will become clearer and your strength will be renewed.
Reversed (?)
Time to emerge from your cocoon. You have had a chance to retreat and assess the situation, now it is time to return to the field of battle with your wounds healed and a new vigor.
Description
A bearded man lies on a crypt decorated with mermaids, putti and a crest consisting of a crown, a rampant lion and a fleur-de-lis. He holds one sword to his chest, and three more hang on the wall above him. A stained glass window also features a crest with a rampant leopard. A white moth rests high on the wall.
Artwork
- Sword hilt, blade: GENTILESCHI, Artemisia, Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1612-21, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
- Sword grip: VOUET, Simon, Magdalene, 1614-15, Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome.
- Stonework: GENTILESCHI, Artemisia, Susanna and the Elders, 1610, Schloss Weissenstein, Pommersfelden.
- Stone slab: LUINI, Bernardino, St Catherine Carried to her Tomb by Angels, 1520-23, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
- Coat of arms: ORLEY, Bernaert van, Altarpiece of Calvary, c.1534, O.L. Vrouwekerk, Bruges.
- Pillow: Master of the Saint Lucy Legend, St Nicholas Altarpiece, 1486-93, Groeninge Museum, Bruges.
- Man: MORONE, Francesco, Samson and Delila, 1500s, Museo Poldi Pezzoli.
- Stained glass: MEMLING, Hans, Diptych of Maarten Nieuwenhove, 1487, Memlingmuseum, Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges.
- Grey butterfly: BOSCH, Hieronymus, Garden of Earthly Delights, c.1500, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
