The Empress in 7 decks
The same card as 7 decks draw it, five and a half centuries apart. What stays the same is the card’s core; what changes is where a reading can find something new. The meanings are written for the Rider–Waite–Smith picture; the descriptions here are of each deck’s own.
Side by side
Choose any two decks and read the pictures against each other.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A woman in a loose white gown patterned with pomegranates reclines on cushions in a lush field, a crown of twelve stars on her head and a sceptre in her hand. Wheat grows thick at her feet, a waterfall tumbles through the forest behind her, and a heart-shaped shield bearing the sign of Venus rests beside her throne.
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A crowned woman with grey hair sits facing forward, red wings rising behind her. She holds a sceptre topped with an orb and cross in one hand and rests the other on a shield bearing a yellow eagle. Her grey gown has a yellow collar and a red sash. Numbered III and titled L'IMPERATRICE.
Rider–Waite–Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A woman in a loose white gown patterned with pomegranates reclines on cushions in a lush field, a crown of twelve stars on her head and a sceptre in her hand. Wheat grows thick at her feet, a waterfall tumbles through the forest behind her, and a heart-shaped shield bearing the sign of Venus rests beside her throne.
Tarot de Marseille
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A crowned woman with grey hair sits facing forward, red wings rising behind her. She holds a sceptre topped with an orb and cross in one hand and rests the other on a shield bearing a yellow eagle. Her grey gown has a yellow collar and a red sash. Numbered III and titled L'IMPERATRICE.
Tarot de Viéville
Jacques Viéville, c. 1650
Numbered III, a crowned woman sits facing out with pale pink wings rising behind her. She holds a sceptre topped by an orb and cross in her right hand and rests her left on a yellow shield bearing a black eagle.
Visconti-Sforza
Bonifacio Bembo, c. 1450
A fair-haired woman in a yellow veil and a gown of gold brocade stands against tooled gold, her blue sleeves hanging to the ground. In her green-gloved right hand she holds a thin gold sceptre; against her left side she holds a gold shield bearing a black eagle. A faint crown is tooled into the gold above her head.
In the Visconti-Sforza deck the number cards show only their suit symbols, and the trumps are unnamed and unnumbered.
Sola Busca
c. 1491
A soldier in a blue cuirass and plumed helmet shades his eyes with one hand and holds a tuft of what looks like flame or straw in the other. A red staff and a red cloth lean against him, and a blue basket of red stuff sits on the ground. The name LENPIO is at the top and III at the left.
Sola Busca trumps are named figures matched to the standard trumps by number only.
Oswald Wirth
Oswald Wirth, 1889
A winged, crowned woman sits facing out with a halo of stars around her head. She holds a sceptre topped with a fleur-de-lis and rests her other hand on a shield bearing a dark eagle. Her blue mantle falls over a crescent moon at her feet, and a leafy plant grows at the right. Below are the number 3, L'IMPERATRICE and the Hebrew letter gimel.
Soimoi
Mike Koz, 2025
A woman with pinned-up hair and a small arc of lights above her head sits barefoot on a bench in a rust kimono with a gold sash, holding a slender gold wand with a glowing tip. Red and cream flowers bloom at right, a lantern glows at left, and water trickles into a pool at her feet. A torii frame and blurred city lights fill the background.