Votive lamp. Cordoba, ca.1700. Lot n° 32

Votive lamp. Cordoba, ca.1700. In silver, embossed and carved. Electrified. Measurements: 100 x 55 x 55 cm. Weight: 3 kg approx. A votive lamp of Andalusian origin, dating from the late Baroque period, in embossed silver and chiselled all over with floral motifs, both on the small flared upper body and on the large lower bowl. The lower bowl is worked in the form of an inverted dome topped by a pinnacle. Votive lamps, also known as Santísimo lamps, have a long history and served the dual function of worship and as an offering to a divinity in gratitude or in fulfilment of a promise. Tradition dictates that these oil lamps, the work of silversmiths, goldsmiths and sometimes craftsmen from different disciplines, burn and illuminate in perpetuity the Blessed Sacrament or the venerated image in the chapels and altars of the temples to keep the devotion of the faithful alive. Endowed with ingenious technical solutions and decorated with care, they have embellished majestic Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque cathedrals. The use of votive offerings, placed in sacred places for ritual purposes and to appease supernatural forces, dates back to the Neolithic period.