Madrid 1587 · Naples 1588
Filosofía cortesana
A board game about getting on at the court of Philip II — sixty-three squares of hope, flattery, favour and ruin — by Alonso de Barros, the king’s servant. Played on the one board that survives.
Mario Cartaro, Naples 1588. © The Trustees of the British Museum
Now enter through the Gate of Opinion
Two or more players, one screen, the dice, and a pot of stakes. Every square you land on is read to you, with Barros’s own explanation.