Graces Received - Painted and Metal Ex-votos from Italy. EXHIBITION OPENING

The works featured in the exhibition date from 1865 to 1959 and are
from the collection of Professor Leonard Norman Primiano of Cabrini
College. Within Catholicism, ex-votos are votive objects offered in
thanks for heavenly intercession with a misfortune such as an accident
or illness. Historically, objects in Italy included metal ex-votos
that took the shape of persons (e.g., a soldier, a swaddled infant),
afflicted body parts, or hearts representing the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. In addition, painted narrative tablets (tavolette), usually on
wood, often depicted the dramatic moment of crisis for which
intercession was requested. Ex-votos were an important part of the
Italian-American religious practices in New York City in the first
half of the twentieth century.