The ex-votos are objects offered to God or a saint to thank him after the realization of an event considered miraculous or to invoke his protection, they are generally donated to a sanctuary, which displays them in special rooms. The ex voto “for grace received” they can be made for the most varied reasons, for example to have escaped a danger, such as an illness or a road accident. In other cases, ex-votos are donated for solicit the intervention of the divinity: not for grace received, but to receive it.
Although objects with similar functions already existed in the ancient world, in their current form votive offerings they date back only to the 16th century. Among the artists who, in their career, have created ex votos also include world-famous painterslike Raphael. In addition to the paintings, the votive offerings include pendants, metal or silver heartswaxes of body parts and other personal symbols.
What they are and what they are for
Ex-votos (from the Latin “following a vote”, literally “for the vote, for the promise” ) are objects offered to the deity for ask for a favor or how act of thanks for the realization of an event that is believed to be due to divine intervention: they often report the phrase “by grace received” and therefore represent thefulfillment of a vowa promise made to the deity. Paintings, wax hearts or body parts, pendants and other objects are left in churches, shrines or sacred places as the fulfillment of a promise made to God, the Madonna or a Saintoften accompanied by the formula “by grace received”.
All ex-votos are a example of popular devotionbased on the assumption that divinity intervenes in human affairs. In addition to being signs of gratitude and personal faith, they testify to daily and private eventstransforming over time into precious sources for cultural, social and artistic history. The custom of donating ex voto is widespread in Italy and in many other Catholic countries: ideally offered to God, Jesus, the Madonna or specific saints, they are generally donated to churches and sanctuaries, some of which set up rooms designed to display them to the public.
In many cases, ex-votos for grace received consist of small pictures depicting the miracle received: a sick person in hospital, with or without the presence of divine figures, in the case of votive offerings donated following recovery from an illness; the scene of a car accident if you want to thank God (or some saint) for having survived the collision; etc. Other ex-votos, especially those offered to ask for a grace, instead take the form of symbolic objectssuch as pendants or artefacts, displayed in special rooms inside the sanctuaries.
History of ex-votos: objects that tell of miracles
The term ex voto literally means “following a vow”, that is, a promise made to God or a sacred figure in exchange for his intervention. The main function of these objects is to give thanks for a grace received – a healing, a life saved, the overcoming of a danger – but sometimes also to publicly bear witness to the fulfillment of that promise. This practice has its roots in ancient religionswhere the offering to the gods was a gesture of gratitude or request, and was then accepted and reworked by Christianity, spreading in many religious cultures up to the present day. The practice of offering was widespread among many peoples gifts to the gods to thank them after receiving a grace or to “urge” them to act if their intervention was needed. The tradition did not stop after the advent of Christianity, however, in their modern form, votive offerings exist approximately from the sixteenth century. At first, the custom of donating them was widespread only among wealthy people, but over the years it has spread to all social classes.
Over time, these objects have taken over very different shapes and materials: bronze, terracotta, wax, silver, gold, wood, fabrics, but also small everyday objects. In addition to the classic painted pictures, they can be found figurines, jewellery, model ships, wedding crowns, crutcheseven representations of body parts healed. Each of them tells a story: fear, illness, the hope of a miracle or gratitude for a life saved.
Even great artists have tried their hand at this genre. Raphaelfor example, painted some, and over the centuries there have been painters specialized in votive offerings, so much so that they have created hundreds of them. But their value is not only religious: they are real documents of life, precious for understanding how people of every era faced the trials of existence, from illnesses to daily misfortunes.
Every ex-voto is also a “public testimony”a way of saying to others: “Behold, grace has arrived, faith has worked”. In the paintings we see miracles, accidents, healings, but also scenes of domestic or working life: authentic cross-sections of the popular world. Even today, many Italian sanctuaries preserve collections of votive offerings from every era, true galleries of faith and humanity.
And perhaps the roots of all this are even further back: some scholars believe that the first traces of votive offerings date back to the Paleolithic, in the hands imprinted on the walls of caves. A simple but universal gesture: leaving a mark, a thank you, a memory of oneself in the face of the mystery of life.
Large collections of votive offerings are possible admire in some sanctuariesincluding the Sanctuary of the Consolata in Turin, the Sanctuary of Nostra Signora del Boschetto in Camogli, the Sanctuary of Montevergine near Avellino. Other votive offerings are part of private collections, among which that of the National Library of Medicine of the United States (the largest medical library in the world), which preserves a collection of ex-votos of a “health” nature, donated following “miraculous” healings.
