With Thanks

Paintings of splintered ships, overturned buggies, dying patients, collapsing floors and falling chandeliers line the walls of many a South-of-France chapel. In each picture the Virgin Mary or a patron saint also appears, serene and smiling above the disaster. Done in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, the paintings are "ex-votos" (thank offerings) by parishioners who were grateful for narrow escapes from death. No one knows who painted most of them; the donor--not the artist--usually got his name in the corner.

Last week, 57 of the best of France's ex-votos (sponsored by the American Federation of Arts) were on exhibition in Manhattan. Next stops: Baltimore, Colorado Springs, Manchester, N.H., St. Louis and Memphis. U.S. gallerygoers would find the paintings short on skill, long on human interest. Many of them would agree with the French poet, Guillaume Apollinaire, on the subject. Said he: "Enchanted and painstaking awkwardness . . . enough to touch even those who have no faith."

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