**Originally Listed At $400**

Latin America, Mexico, ca. 1901. A beautiful antique ex voto painted on heavy gauge tin and depicting a woman by the name of Valeriana Salinas who is ill in bed, accompanied by her parents who kneel in prayer to Crucified Christ flanked by Mary and Joseph - the Holy Family aloft on a celestial cloud. Below is an inscription that generally translates, "During the month of October of 1898 / on the 17th of this month, Valeriana Salinas suffered a strong attack that seemed to be the death of her for some time, and her mother without any hope and preparing for the worst resolved to pray to Jesus Christ of Calvario de Mazatepec. Miraculously, she recuperated. For this we give thanks on this 15th of November in 1901. / Trinidad Olmedo." Size: 13.125" W x 9.25" H (33.3 cm x 23.5 cm)

Ex-votos are narrative paintings indicative of healing or blessing. This tradition was inspired by the Greeks and was brought to the New World by the Spaniards. These votive paintings were hung in a church or placed adjacent to an image in order to celebrate and give thanks for the recovery of the donor from an illness or dangerous situation. In essence, ex-votos represent the spiritual or physical gains received by the donor. These paintings include hand painted passages that relate the details of the cure or the rescue. Typically, however, this commentary is replete with regional dialect and somewhat tricky to translate. Nevertheless, if one is familiar with the Spanish language, it is possible to understand the narratives told by these anecdotal paintings.

Provenance: ex House of Ancestors Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico; ex private Galisteo, New Mexico, USA collection

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#148925

Expected age wear with indentations, creases, and surface wear as shown. However, the inscription and imagery are still discernible. Painting has developed nice craquelure. Old perforations at peripheries for former suspension/attachment.