Votive plaque

A rectangular plaque pendant with clipped corners; along the top edge is an opening for hanging. The surface is decorated with a wavy relief; the field bears an image of a leg. Along the right and left edges, mirrored to one another, is a two-line inscription: "This offering of the servant / of God Alexandra."

The plaque belonged to the collection of the Sloboda Ukraine Museum named after H. S. Skovoroda. During the Second World War the pendant was evacuated and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.

Votive plaques are small metal plates shaped like, or bearing an image of, various parts of the human body or organs in need of healing. They were hung on the most miracle-working and venerated icons as a petition for healing or in thanks for healing received. This tradition was widespread in Ukraine in the 17th–19th centuries.