Votive offerings made from terracotta, marble, and sometimes bronze were left at healing sanctuaries and other religious sites as offerings to gods such as Asclepius (Latin Aesculapius), the Greco-Roman god of medicine. They were intended either to indicate the part of the body that needed help or as thanks for a cure. Although the practice originated in earlier cultures, the votive offerings became very popular in Roman times – particularly between the 400s and 100s BCE. A large range of different votive body parts were made and offered up in their thousands. Anatomical votive offerings are particularly striking, as we can discern their specific functions and the hopes held by those who offered them. Many of them were clay-baked within a mold, allowing for easy and inexpensive mass production. As a result, they were widely used objects that were used by ordinary people.
With the official institution of Christianity in the Roman Empire came the need to transfer ancient pagan traditions to a Christian context. Votive offerings therefore began to be used in Christian settings instead of pagan sanctuaries. By the Medieval period, anatomical votive offerings continued to be widespread. Christian shrines across Europe saw both locals and pilgrims depositing ex-votos in the shapes of body parts. Wax votive offerings in the shape of body parts are still regularly produced to be left in Christian shrines. Renaissance votive offerings also often took the form of painted panels depicting scenes of accidents or illnesses with saintly intercession.
The fact that the tradition has continued in popular devotion up to the Modern period shows the power that painted votive offerings undeniably have for the faithful.
Votive offerings are incredibly diverse and wide-ranging, spanning through the history of art.
breasts - terracotta - Corinth
breasts of Astarte - marble - Canaanite
uterus (two views) - terracotta
uterus, breast, ear, eye - terracotta
vulva - terracotta - Etrusco-Roman - 200 BCE-200 CE
arm, foot, uterus, ears, eye - terracotta
hair - marble, probably Roman, 200 BCE-400 CE
hair/scalps - terracotta & painted terracotta - Roman - 200 BCE-200 CE
group of marble votives - Greek
jacobvanloon
theartofmadeline
jbbartram-illu
tangentwithtanner
kaledo-art
andulkaphoto
