The Trentino has a special expression of our peoples faith expressed artistically on votive tablets, the Ex Voto.

An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to God. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion. Ex-votos are placed in a church or chapel where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. When an illness seemed not to have a remedy or recourse, when the medicine was a science simply not available, the unfortunates, those who were ill would make a covenant with the divinity. The Ex Voto tablet was a testimonial of a supernatural intervention in the face of ever present dangers and death itself. These tablets or framed pictures depict scenes painted in oils or tempera or drawn in pencil commemorating grace received in cases of illness, accident or danger giving evidence of their piety and devotion. They were commissioned by individuals or even communities from mostly unknown painters to record a miracle of which they had been the protagonist and beneficiaries. They hang on the walls of sanctuaries and side altars communicating the popular devotion or religious faith of our villages, the gratitude expressed by simple people to the saints or to those persons to whom they turned in times of needs. These Ex Voto tablets have their expressive expositions in some of the major sanctuaries of devotion in the Tyrol. They include Montagnaga di Pine` (see article on page 29) S. Romedio, S. Valentino of Ala, S. Croce di Bleggio, the Madonna del Monte in Rovereto, l`Addolorata a Cavalese, the Madonna dell`Aiuto a Fiera di Primiero, the chapel of S. Antonio in Albiano; the Madonna of the Baselga of Bresimo, S. Vigilio of Tioneto name but a few. These objects are considered humble art yet they served as expressive symbols, megaphones announcing and proclaiming a special and blessed happening. It is within this world of legend, of piety and faith that ex votos recount the stories of common folk. The creators of these pictures never claimed to have created works of art but they are strikingly beautiful as well as being a precious testimony of the everyday life a bygone age.

Ex Voto: Faith Expressed in Art

In 1981 in Trento, there was an exhibition and a survey of the ex voto tablets that had been produced between 16th to the 19th century. There were approximately 1000 ex voto objects. In the parish church of S. Anna at Montagnaga di Pine`, 400 ex voto tablets were destroyed due to the negligence of the parish priest that had situated candles under the tablets. In the Valsugana, the ex votos were gathered in chapels in the country side where there had resided hermits. When the hermits had to leave these places by degree of the Emperor Joseph II of Vienna at the end of the 18th century, the more precious objects were stolen by thieves. This happened in all too many places. In summary, these historic tablets document a world of customs that has now disappeared but provide a glimpse of the historic and traditional religiosity of our people. Alberto Folgheraiter author of I Sentieri dell`Infinito-Storia dei Santuari del Trentino-Alto Adige