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The Meadows Collection
Adela & Mark Meadows

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Ex-Votos

The term ex-voto is an abbreviation for ex-voto suscepto, Latin for "from the vow made."

Should a particular saint be called upon, tradition called for a votive offering to be given out of thankfulness and as a way of symbolizing the specific wish, prayer, or vow.

Made of silvered tin, they represent different organs or parts of the body or, in some cases, an entire being or animal.

The votive offerings were used as a reminder of the prayer and would be pinned to the image of a saint, placed within a shrine, or simply attached to the walls of the church.

In some cultures they were used as a means to aid the saint in performing a miracle. The tradition came to the New World with the arrival of the Spaniards who called them milagros meaning miracle.

We feature four different ex-votos; they are all Italian, dating from the twentieth century, and represent a stomach, a baby, a young woman, and a leg.

Miracles aside, they have a wonderful patina and their sculptural aspect gives them much decorative appeal.  Condition-wise, as can be seen in the photographs, they have been used and are in an unpolished state. The baby has areas of corrosion, the stomach has just a bit of corrosion, and all four have minor bends to the metal...but nothing to prevent their assisting in further miracles.

The stomach is 4.5 inches high and 3.675 inches wide; the baby is 6.125 inches high and 2.25 inches wide; the young woman is 8.25 inches high and 2.675 inches wide; the leg is 6.5 inches high and 2.125 inches wide.

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