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Monday, February 1, 2027
7pm ET (NYC time)
PLEASE NOTE: A link to a recording of this talk will be sent out to ticket holders after its conclusion. It will also be archived for our Patreon members. Become a Member HERE.
Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before the event to the email used at checkout. Please check your spam folder and if not received, email hello@morbidanayomy.org. A temporary streaming link will be emailed after the event concludes.
What can you offer a god in exchange for a healed body? Sometimes, the answer is the body itself, or at least a small replica of the troublesome part.
For thousands of years, people have presented divine powers with images of aching legs, diseased eyes, injured hands, infertile wombs, endangered breasts, malfunctioning genitals, and nearly every other part of the human body. These objects, known as ex-votos, might accompany a plea for help or fulfill a promise made after healing: restore this part of me, and I will give its image to you.
Beginning with terracotta body parts deposited at ancient Greek and Roman healing sanctuaries, this lecture follows the practice through medieval and early modern Europe, Greek Orthodox tamata, Indian anatomical offerings, Latin American milagros, and the plaster limbs, braces, crutches, and prostheses left at the shrine of Saint Roch in New Orleans. Along the way, we will ask what these strange and moving objects were expected to do. Were they payments, reminders, substitutes for the suffering body, or public evidence that a miracle had occurred? Together, they reveal a global history of broken bodies, and the bargains people have made in hope of being restored.
Brenda Edgar is an art historian and yoga instructor in Louisville, KY. Information about her talks and classes can be found at www.BrendaEdgar.org.
Monday, February 1, 2027
7pm ET (NYC time)
PLEASE NOTE: A link to a recording of this talk will be sent out to ticket holders after its conclusion. It will also be archived for our Patreon members. Become a Member HERE.
Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before the event to the email used at checkout. Please check your spam folder and if not received, email hello@morbidanayomy.org. A temporary streaming link will be emailed after the event concludes.
What can you offer a god in exchange for a healed body? Sometimes, the answer is the body itself, or at least a small replica of the troublesome part.
For thousands of years, people have presented divine powers with images of aching legs, diseased eyes, injured hands, infertile wombs, endangered breasts, malfunctioning genitals, and nearly every other part of the human body. These objects, known as ex-votos, might accompany a plea for help or fulfill a promise made after healing: restore this part of me, and I will give its image to you.
Beginning with terracotta body parts deposited at ancient Greek and Roman healing sanctuaries, this lecture follows the practice through medieval and early modern Europe, Greek Orthodox tamata, Indian anatomical offerings, Latin American milagros, and the plaster limbs, braces, crutches, and prostheses left at the shrine of Saint Roch in New Orleans. Along the way, we will ask what these strange and moving objects were expected to do. Were they payments, reminders, substitutes for the suffering body, or public evidence that a miracle had occurred? Together, they reveal a global history of broken bodies, and the bargains people have made in hope of being restored.
Brenda Edgar is an art historian and yoga instructor in Louisville, KY. Information about her talks and classes can be found at www.BrendaEdgar.org.