Rectangular pottery plaque

Rectangular pottery plaque, one of a series depicting miraculous appearances of the Virgin Mary, majolica, made at Deruta, Umbria, Italy, dated 1662

Painted plaques like this 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. This colourful glazed pottery example, known as majolica, is from Deruta in the province of Umbria, Italy, a town renowned for its ceramics since the 1400s. It depicts a cooking fire scene. The letters P.G.R. stand for Per Grazia Ricevuta (By Grace Recieved).