The first description of tarot decks appeared as early as the beginning of the 15th century when Martiano da Tortona mentioned some card games that resembled a lot to tarot. The motifs on these early illustrations were Greek deities with the suits made of four different types of birds, which differed greatly from the regular Italian suits. These forefathers of tarot decks counted only sixteen cards, and their popularity seemed to be quite impressive at the time. Later, other tarot decks are described by Italian documents throughout the 15th century. The ideology and the symbolism of the cards were very impressive even then with social, heraldic, poetical and philosophical implications.