For the next few weeks, I will be showcasing new artworks, schools of art, and artists in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. To begin my Art of the Americas display, I've added two new sheet metal paintings to the Mexican Ex-Votos page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. Both of these votive images were made in the traditional three-tier style. The holy patron whose help has been envoked floats in the sky in the upper section of the painting; a picture of the event prompting the prayers for help or of thanks, along with the petitioners, appears in the middle row; an explanatory text is written at the bottom. In an ex-voto dated 1893, the Peres Gaytan family thanks Father Jesus for a good harvest. The second panel, dated July 14 '62, gives thanks to St. Francis for saving the life of a man on horseback, who almost drowned in a surging river after a heavy downpour. (John Kohan)