Grazie al cielo

Grazie al cielo. Repertorio di ex voto messicani is added to the other numerous volumes dedicated by Franco Maria Ricci to the art and culture of Mexico. It contains important research on votive paintings, mostly anonymous, which for centuries have been intertwined with the devotion of the Mexican people. The "Repertory" is an addition and supplement to the studies by Elin Luque Agraz, one of the most esteemed experts on the subject. The author of numerous publications, she passed away suddenly as the proofs of the book were being prepared. The volume is completed by a foreword by Giorgio Antei and an essay by the same author entitled Ave Maria. La stagione dei miracoli, dedicated to the Florentine votive offerings between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The attraction that artists have always felt, in moments of crisis, for popular or marginal or secondary art forms, alludes to the dialectic between originality and diversity, between refinement and expressiveness. The coexistence and alternation between recognised works of art and those considered "minor" is well documented in this volume. The first part is loaded with references to the great names of painting while the second brings together numerous examples of anonymous painters.