Click on thumbnails below to view full-size images:

       
Left to right: Present-day ex-votos in Mexican shrine; Present-day ex-votos in Crete; Bronze Iberian indigenous ex-votos from Andalucia (Jaen), IV-I B.C.,Museum of Archeology, Seville, Spain; Present-day wax body parts and other ex-votos, Montserrat monastery, Barcelona, 2000.

Votive candles, N.Y.City (1929-30), Walker Evans photograph

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The image of the Virgin of El Cobre acquired a "miraculous" reputation back in the 17th century and that reputation is still "active" making the Sanctuary a living shrine. Christian and Santeria devotees, and even non religiously affiliated people, still make pilgrimages to this shrine to directly request a cure from the image or to fulfill a vow.

A "chamber of miracles" in a backroom of the basilica displays a wide array of votive offerings and ex-votos left behind by pilgrims throughout the centuries as an expression of gratitude for a favor or simply as a manifestation of devotion.

Healing miracles were particularly prominent in the Virgin's repertorie of "prodigies." Bunches of small gold and silver ex-votos in the shape of the afflicted or healed body parts stand as testimonies of alleged cures throughout the centuries--and of the faith of those allegedly cured. Votive offerings, including miniature images of body parts, are common throughout the shrines of Christendom to this day and they have a long tradition that goes back to pre-history and the Ancient world (see thumbnails left below). They point to the persistence of a deep past in many corners of the present, or rather, to the past as a living present.

OF INTEREST:

Brazilian ex-votos

"Making Secular Art Out of Religious Imagery" (NY Times: Art Review)