Doc Ophthalmol. 2001 Jan; 102(1): 11-7.

Eye votives from Croatian shrines.

Dugac Z.

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of the History and Philosophy of Science, Division of the History of Medicine, Zagreb. dugac@hazu.hr

This paper investigates votive gifts that people brought to sacred places in Croatia, as a gift in connection with various eye diseases. The custom of votive giving has been present in the territory of Christian Europe from ancient times until recent days. By examining the models of eyes dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, we came to the conclusion that they do not show any malformation, meaning that no pathological processes of eyes were shown. With their healthy form, they show the image of a healthy eye that the one who prays wishes to have. This is the opposite from the eye votives from Greek and Roman times, which were given in the ancient Esculap shrines with the desire to be healthy, because the Greek and Roman votives do show pathological processes.