Retablos or behind altars are devotional small paintings, typically made on tin or copper, which are made after moments of adversity or miracles to give thanks for divine protection. They are a later interpretation of traditional Spanish ex-votos which were extravagant Catholic commissioned works ranging from chapels to religious statue adornments. The retablo form of ex-votos resulted form Spanish colonization as they attempted to teach Catholicism to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The hybridization of these traditions created a large variation of retablo styles influenced by different Latin American cultures.