Votive baby

A baby votive is an offering presented to a supernatural power at a shrine and represents an infant or child in the first few years of life.

On Cyprus, Dr. EJ Graham observed wax babies, which were sold by local candle makers, hung from string in several village churches.

[1] Rather than being hung up in the churches, at the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal, wax models of babies, body parts, and candles are presented and burned on a fire pit.

In ancient Italy, for example, offerings of infants wrapped in swaddling bands appeared starting in the 5th century BCE and would eventually be found in many parts of the Roman empire.

Several centuries later, the enthroned mother and child motif appeared in the Byzantine-era icon of Mary and Jesus from St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Stories showing Maya giving birth to the Shakyamuni Buddha were commonly displayed at Buddhist ritual sites, such as stupas or stele shrines.

[11] Narratives involving mortal babies could be offered in ancient Greek sanctuaries, such as a votive relief carved with a sacrificial procession and presentation of an infant to a goddess, in this case likely Artemis.