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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.
The fear of losing one's health had been one of the greatest human fears until modern medicine was developed. Illness most often meant existential threat and great suffering, so the large number of anthropomorphic votive offerings is not surprising. People believed that illness was the result of sin and that they could atone with votive offerings. Depictions of human body parts directly indicated the diseased organs or parts to God or a saint. Figurines in the form of arms or legs pointed out work related injuries. An image of the torso indicated internal diseases. There are many depictions of the eyes, because eye diseases were widespread due to people living in smoke houses.
The white wax votive figurine represents the eyes on a base. It is a product of Maribor based mead-makers from the beginning of the 20th century. Offered on Ptujska Gora. Inventory No E 129.
The figure of a praying man or woman recommended a specific person for protection against various diseases, dangers and problems. Votive figures were also offered as a way of showing appreciation for an answered prayer or for escaping danger.
The votive figurines made out of white wax depicting a husband and wife in Rococo costumes are the product of Maribor based mead-makers from the early 20th century. They were offered on Ptujska Gora. Inv. no. E 128 and E 130.
The baby as a plea for the health of the child or for fertility and a happy birth is a motif that appears among votive offerings in the 19th century, when, initially in the bourgeois world and later also among the peasant population, the attitude towards children changed significantly.
A figurine of a toad represented the womb and was a plea for help with woman's ailments, but also a plea or a way to give thanks for fertility and a happy birth.
Votive figure of a baby swaddled with ornamental white wax bandages. It is a product of Maribor mead-makers from the beginning of the 20th century. The object was offered on Ptujska Gora. Inv. no. E 124.
White wax votive figure of a toad. The offering was made by Maribor mead-makers at the beginning of the 20th century. It is an offering of barren women who expressed their plea for offspring in the pilgrimage church on Ptujska Gora. Inv. no. E 123.
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