Devotional card ex-voto Altötting chapel - reproduction votive painting 1879, Drittordensverlag

Devotional card with a colour reproduction of a votive painting from the Holy Chapel of Altötting, dated 1879. The painting shows two kneeling figures — a man in dark habit and a woman in civilian dress — on either side of a church building, while above them the Altötting Madonna appears in a radiant formation of clouds. The inscription on the painting reads: "Zwei gewisse Personen verlobten sich hieher in gewissen Anliegen zur Muttergottes. EXVOTO. 1879." The reverse gives the publisher's name: Drittordensverlag Altötting Nr. 917.

Altötting is the principal Marian shrine of Bavaria and one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage sites in German-speaking Europe. The Holy Chapel houses hundreds of ex-votos left by pilgrims in gratitude for graces received. The votive painting reproduced on this card is a rare example of an anonymous pledge — "two certain persons" who do not reveal their names but record their devotion for posterity. The Drittordensverlag was the Franciscan publishing house connected to the shrine.