Client / Ruffino 1877
Year / 2026
Ex Voto is a project that translates an ancient tradition into a contemporary language.
Inspired by votive culture—widespread across the world yet deeply rooted in Italy and the Mediterranean—the project reinterprets the symbolic act of offering as a relationship between object, memory, and celebration.
Ex votos are small, precious objects, often made of metal, offered to give thanks, seek protection, or mark a meaningful moment. Essential signs that endure over time, carrying universal meanings.
The project is composed of three symbols—a heart that protects, an eye that sees, and a hand that offers—archetypal forms that are immediately recognizable and widely shared.
Reduced to their essence, these signs condense a collective imagery into a contemporary expression.
Applied to Ruffino bottles, the ex votos transform the object into something more than a container: a gift within the gift, a sign that accompanies the act of drinking and amplifies its symbolic value.
In this way, the bottle becomes an object to be kept, collected, and passed on.
No longer just a vessel, but a presence: a talisman that brings together matter and meaning, ritual and everyday life.
Credits and technical information
Concept and Design / Martinelli Venezia
Materials / polished brass
Photo /