Giordano Berti (born 27 February 1959) is an Italian writer and teacher of History of Arts. Born in Bologna, he grew up in Monghidoro, a town of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. After obtaining his College diploma he went on to study history and philosophy at University of Bologna and shortly thereafter started his career of editor and writer.
Berti is an established and prolific author of many books about different subjects, such as History of Esotericism (magic, divination, witchcraft, alchemy, astrology, heresies, gnosticism, heaven and hell, angels and devils) in his relationship with Art. Some of Berti's books are translated in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Polish and Japanese.
He was president and co-founder of the Istituto Graf at Bologna, an association dedicated to the research and, often, rediscovery of the Arts and Folklore. Berti frequently organises, with the patronage and support of local Councils, many Art and History exhibitions throughout Italy.
As a Tarot historian, Berti was invited, as special guest, at the third World Tarot Congress, in Chicago (May 10 to 14 2001), were he delivered a long conference titled "The Babel of Tarot, or the evolution of the 22 allegoric Triumph cards as a transformation into an esoteric language"[1].
Berti is consultant for two Tarot and Playing Cards editors, Lo Scarabeo (Turin, Italy) and Dal Negro Dal Negro (Treviso, Italy).
Together with Andrea Vitali, Middle Age historian and President of the Associazione Le Tarot (Faenza, Italy), and Michael Dummett, a British philosopher, Berti organized various exhibits on the History and Art of Tarot:
Este Castle of Ferrara (from December 1987 to February 1988),
City Archeological Museum of Bologna (Bologna, December 1994),
National Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, March 1995),
Barolo Palace (Turin, April 1997).
With Vitali, Berti also published some important catalogues:
Tarocchi. Gioco e magia alla Corte degli Estensi (Bologna, Nuova Alfa Editorale, 1987)
Tarocchi. Le carte del destino (Faenza, Edizioni Le Tarot, 1988)
In addition to the tarot exhibition catalogues, Berti published a lot of studies on tarot and card games history for the Italian editor Lo Scarabeo of Turin:
Tarocchi Rider-Waite. Storia, riti iniziatici e pratiche divinatorie di Arthur Edward Waite, with Rossella Ferrero (1993, in Italian).
Antichi Tarocchi Bolognesi, with M. Chiesa and G. Crippa (1995, in Italian).
Antichi Tarocchi Liguri-Piemontesi, with M. Chiesa and T. Depaulis (1995, in Italian).
Antichi Tarocchi Milanesi, with M. Chiesa (1995, in Italian).
The Sola-Busca Tarot, with M. Chiesa and S. Di Vincenzo (1995, in Italian).
Egyptian Tarot, with T. Gonard (1997, in Italian, English and German).
Antichi Tarocchi Marsigliesi, with T. Gonard (1998, in Italian).
Visconti Tarot, with T. Gonard (1998, in Italian, English, German and Dutch).
Tarocchi di Aleister Crowley, with R. Negrini and R. Tebani (1999, in Italian).
Tarot of the New Vision, with T. Gonard (2005, in Italian and English).
History of Tarot. Trues and Legends about the most mysterious Cards on the World (2007, in Italian).
Apart from tarot studies, Giordano Berti wrote some historical books about different themes of western spirituality. Below are some of the most important works:
Hell's Visions. Sins and Tortures in the Art of Middle Age (1991)
Archangels: History and Legends (1997)
The Heretics (1997)
Dictionary of Christian Religion (1997) (Italian)
The Other World and Afterlife (1998, in Italian, French, Japanese and Polish)