Votive earthenware plaque
- Made:
- 1724
Votive plaque, earthenware, tin glazed, from Deruta, Italian, 1724
These painted plaques are known as ‘ex votos’, meaning ‘from a vow’ in Latin. Left in a church in gratitude for answered prayers, each one tells
a story of a cure or delivery from disaster through the intervention of the Virgin Mary or another Christian saint.
Ex votos can take various forms. These colourful glazed pottery examples, known as majolica, are from Deruta in Italy, a town renowned for its
ceramics since the 1400s. This example was commissioned by a man named Pietro, to express his thanks to the Virgin and Child for saving his daughter, Anna Vittoria, from drowning. The letters P.G.R. stand for Per Grazia Ricevuta (By Grace Received).
Details
- Category:
- Medical Ceramic-ware
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A85173
- Materials:
- earthenware (tin glazed)
- Measurements:
-
overall: 328 mm x 398 mm x 18 mm, 3.22 kg
- type:
- votive offerings
- credit:
- Loan, Wellcome Trust
