Analyse of a specific category of ex voto: the wax reproductions -- often full-size -- of the body of the devout Christian. In the late Middle Ages, the typology of these simulacra developed significantly, at least seemingly. Even for full-size votive casts dressed in real clothes and other garments (see for instance the famous bóti of Florence), the imitation of the offerer's figure did not matter as much as the votive object's substituting function and its effectiveness in a given working and ritual context did. This brings about the platonic problem of the mimesis, as it was formulated by Enrst Gombrich: the relationship between imitating and making as well as the one between the likeness and the production of effective signs.