Medicus, Vol. 13 No. 1_Depresija, 2004.
Review article
Votive Gifts for Health in the Collection of the Dominican Monasteries in Stari Grad (Island of Hvar)
Željko Dugac
Abstract
This work explores the votive gifts for health
kept in the museum collection of the Dominican Monastery
in Stari Grad on the island of Hvar. The studied votive gifts
belong to a group of anatomic or identification votive gifts
that represent the parts of the human body. They were made
of silver in the period from the 19th century until the first half
of the 20th century. They mostly represent upper and lower
extremities. In popular religious practice, votive gifts were
used to heal various health conditions. They were offered in
the temples and represented devout persons and their
health problems, and they also expressed their gratitude to
patron saints for answering their prayers. The studied votive
gifts are rare witnesses of the primordial approach to healing
and protection from various illnesses where a particular
object represented a particular person and his health problems.
Keywords
history of medicine; votive gifts; patron saints
Hrčak ID:
19818
URI
Publication date:
26.1.2004.
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