Ex-Voto; Giving Thanks to the Virgin Mary for Granting My Safe Return Home, Retablo, circa 1840

Ex Voto; Giving Thanks to the Virgin Mary for Granting My Safe Return Home. Oil on tin, circa 1840's. Anonymous Mexican artist with a contemporary custom frame handcrafted by artisan Michael Blatnik.

The text reads: "Virgencita de san juan gracias por darme mi alivio y salvar me de la migra y ti inplore me dieras licencia de regresar con vida del orto lado alado de mi mujer porques es tube muy malo de emorrajia que pense que no iba arregresar nunca a mi tierra. es por eso que junto comi mujer eternamente las gracias te vengoa dar. Elijio Aguado- Tlaquepaque Jalisco."

Translation from Spanish: "Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos (Virgin Mary in Jalisco, Mexico), thank you for giving me relief and saving me from immigration. I implore you to grant me permission to return alive to the other side, next to my wife, because I was so sick with hemorrhaging that I thought I would never return to my home. That is why, together with my wife (Mersedes), I come to give you eternal thanks. Eligio Aguado - Tlaquepaque, Jalisco."

What is an ex-Voto?
When a person survived a life-threatening situation or personal calamity, they would subsequently hire an artist to depict their story of diving intervention. They were created to offer thanks to the saint or deity who healed them and were considered an object given as a fulfilment of a vow. Although ex-votos originated as simple images of saints, eventually they were embellished with a short narrative describing the miracle that transpired. Once completed, these accounts would hang in the church as public professions of gratitude or faith. After a year, the vow was considered fulfilled and the ex-voto would be destroyed or sold.

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo were avid collectors of ex-votos and because of their interest this wonderful form of folk art became popular among artists and aficionados alike.