From Touchstone TarotTM by Kat Black
King of Wands
Meanings
The leader. A charismatic man whom people admire and want to follow. He is masculine, virile and yet caring. His confidence is such that he does not need to dominate or assert his superiority.
Reversed (?)
Ruthless focus. This man is so sure that his path is right and that he can walk all over any who get in his way or challenge his authority. He grows less benevolent and more despotic.
Description
A bearded man in black clothing sits on a red and gilt throne. A red velvet curtain hangs behind him. He wears a chain with a medallion and a flat black hat edged in white plumes. His gloved right hand holds a wand, and in his left hand he holds the other glove. A small lizard sits beside him.
Artwork
- Wand: TIZIANO, Vecellio (Titian), St Christopher, 1524, Palazzo Ducale, Venice.
- Wand leaves: PONTORMO, Jacopo, Cosimo il Vecchio, c.1520, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
- Curtain: JORDAENS, Jacob, Portrait of Magdalena de Cuyper, mother of Rogier Le Witer, c.1635, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
- Throne body, right hand: TIZIANO, Vecellio (Titian), Portrait of Charles V Seated, 1548, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
- Neck chain: HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger, Henry VIII, 1540, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome.
- Face: HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger, De Vos van Steenwijk, 1541, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.
- Hat: HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger, Henry VIII, 1536, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
- Lizard: AST, Balthasar van der, Basket of Fruits, c. 1625, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.
Members
78 Friends members who have chosen this card as their Significator...
I love the lizard. The medievals believed that the salamander could pass through flame unharmed, which is altogether very appropriate for the Suit of Wands.