Waite–Smith, Trump 4
The Emperor
What you can see
A crowned, bearded figure sits on a throne decorated with rams’ heads, holding an orb and an ankh-shaped sceptre. Armoured legs appear beneath the robe.
What Waite says
Waite begins with worldly authority and its execution, then adds intellectual kingship. He cautions that the Emperor and Empress cannot be reduced simply to a married couple.
Waite · Part II, §2 · printed pp. 84–87 ↗Edition and image credits
Pamela Colman Smith, illustrations in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Rider 1922 reprint, first published 1910. The scans keep the printed borders and page marks, with no cropping or recolouring.