Votive offerings are individualised gifts given to the Church by people with a specific request or in order to give thanks. They express the greatest fears and concerns of the individual. They appear among the upper classes in the 17th and 18th centuries, and became widespread among the majority of the population in the 18th and especially in the 19th century. After the end of the First World War, and even more so after the Second World War, the custom became more rare, although it did not entirely disappear.

The oldest surviving votive offerings are metal, but wooden ones are also common. These two materials have been used only in certain regions. Offerings made out of wax were the most common, as wax was an important offering to the Church. Votive paintings, which first appeared among the wealthy nobility in the 17th century, represent the most prestigious form of votive offering.