What are these hung objects?
KOH-zah SO-noh KWES-tee oh-JET-tee ap-PEH-zee.
When you see votive offerings, silver tablets, crutches, or other objects hanging near a shrine. These ex-votos are a fascinating and distinctly Italian folk religious tradition.
Cosa sono means what are. Questi oggetti means these objects. Appesi is the plural past participle of appendere (to hang). Ex-votos (ex voti) are offerings left in thanksgiving for answered prayers — from painted tablets to crutches left by the healed.
Questi sono ex-voto?
Are these ex-votos?
Using the Latin term recognised in Italian.
Cosa rappresentano le tavolette votive?
What do the votive tablets represent?
Asking about the painted votive panels.
Da quanto tempo si porta questa tradizione?
How long has this tradition existed?
Asking about the historical depth of the practice.
Ex-voto shrines in Italian churches and wayside chapels are one of the most vivid expressions of Italian popular religion. The Sanctuary of Pompeii near Naples has one of Italy's most elaborate ex-voto collections, with thousands of painted tablets, photographs, and silver objects covering the walls, floor to ceiling.