The Tower

Lightning strikes a high tower, its crown blown off, two figures falling headlong past flames into the dark. Pamela Colman Smith drew it in 1909 as the card of sudden overturning — the built thing struck down in an instant. It is the deck's most violent image, and she staged it with theatrical force. Smith completed all seventy-eight for a flat fee in a matter of months, and the tower of her own credit stood unlit for the better part of a century. Look for the falling crown, the twenty-two flames of the yods, and the 'PCS' monogram set into the lower corner.

Maker

Pamela Colman Smith, for A. E. Waite

Date

1909

Medium of the original

Plate

Original held by

Published London, 1909 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Credit

Published London, 1909 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00443