Iron votives from Lower Bavaria. 12th - 19th century humans (5081, 3808), hand (4114) and animals (4313, 4299, 3868) from Aigen am Inn. Animal (2238) and man (3504) from Ganacker a.d. Isar near Regensburg. 8 pieces! The cult of the iron votive dates back to the 12th - 15th century in Lower Bavaria. Catholic Christians in Bavaria and also Austria sacrificed to St. Leonhard, who stands for war and iron and is the patron saint of drivers, blacksmiths and soldiers. He is also regarded as the patron saint of animals, as well as the patron saint of sickness, finding and fire. According to current research, the cult of iron votives goes back to pre-Christian times. The already popular custom was thus adapted from the Leonhard cult. There are two large areas of distribution and specific form development of iron votives: the Bavarian-Swabian area, represented by the pieces from the Schaedler Collection offered here, and areas in Carinthia and Styria. In terms of form, there are both animals and human figures that are older than the animal figures. The production technique from a single piece also serves as a dating criterion. The custom can be traced back to the late 19th century - in some areas even later. The churches rented out the collected votive offerings to the supplicants and thus secured themselves an additional income. The adorant took the votive to the petition and then returned it to the priest. Cf. K.-F. Schaedler, Kult, Magie und Religion. Versuch einer Analyse (2014), pp. 96-100. Somewhat corroded, intact. Provenance: Ex private collection K.-F. Schädler, Munich.
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