Swaddled Infant Votive
Swaddled baby votives are figures of babies offered as an entreaty to a god or goddess, for healthy pregnancy and childbirth. They have been recovered from ancient Italian Roman temple sanctuary sites. The Roman child In ancient Rome, family was important to create new citizens and widen political dimensions. The newborn Roman these votives represent had faced an uphill battle to make it through to this milestone. It is common in Roman antiquity for women to experience high infertility and mortality (1 in 50). Women married young, and it was expected of them that they would procreate successfully early into the marriage and often. Many things could go wrong and affected her fertility in this endeavor and her ability to survive the pregnancy. Newborns as well experienced a high mortality rate (up to 35%) for a myriad of reasons. In fact, there was the possibility that the pater familias (legal head of the family) legally might deem them unworthy of life. It is common in circum ...
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Ex-voto Di Bambini In Fasce, Dal Santuario Di Peciano Presso Cortona, III-II Secolo Ac
An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or a divinity, given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion. The term is usually restricted to Christian examples. Definition Ex-votos are placed in a Church (building), church or chapel where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. The destinations of pilgrimages often include shrines decorated with ex-votos. Ex-votos can take a wide variety of forms. They are not only intended for the invocated, but also as a testimony to later visitors of the received help. As such they may include texts explaining a miracle attributed to the helper, or symbols such as a painted or modeled reproduction of a miraculously healed body part, or a directly related item such as a crutch given by a person formerly lame. There are places where a very old tradition of depositing ex-votos existed, such as Abydos, Egypt, Abydos in ancient Egypt. Ex-voto paint ...
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