Ex voto plaque

A painted thanks on a wall.

Also known as: Votive painting, Retablo

In Latin:: Ex voto

CulturalHistorical & archaeologicalReligiousStandard profile

Meanings

The small painted panel offered at a shrine depicting the event from which the offerer was delivered.

Culturally establishedTradition
Records at a shrine an event from which the offerer holds themselves to have been delivered.
Contexts: History, Public information
Historically documentedVerified fact
Composed to a fixed formula — incident, intercessor, inscription — so the panels are comparable with one another and constitute a serial record of accidents, illnesses and escapes across a region and a period.
Contexts: History, Public information

Visual description

A small painted panel showing the incident, the saint invoked in a corner, and a line of text naming the person and the date.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

The symbols of religious and spiritual traditions
Religious-studies scholarship and the traditions' own published accounts · retrieved 2026-08-27
Cited for the identity of a symbol and for the account a tradition gives of it, attributed to that tradition. Never cited for the truth of any religious claim. Where a symbol is sacred, restricted or contested, the record says so and does not reproduce restricted material.

Last reviewed 2026-08-27

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Meanings

The small painted panel offered at a shrine depicting the event from which the offerer was delivered.

Culturally establishedTradition

Records at a shrine an event from which the offerer holds themselves to have been delivered.

Contexts: History, Public information

Historically documentedVerified fact

Composed to a fixed formula — incident, intercessor, inscription — so the panels are comparable with one another and constitute a serial record of accidents, illnesses and escapes across a region and a period.

Contexts: History, Public information

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

The symbols of religious and spiritual traditions
Religious-studies scholarship and the traditions' own published accounts · retrieved 2026-08-27
Cited for the identity of a symbol and for the account a tradition gives of it, attributed to that tradition. Never cited for the truth of any religious claim. Where a symbol is sacred, restricted or contested, the record says so and does not reproduce restricted material.

Last reviewed 2026-08-27