A rare altar reliquary and monstrance in the Empire style, featuring a vase-like form crafted from gilded bronze and ormolu. Exquisitely handmade in Continental Europe (possibly Italy?) during the second half of the 19th century—likely during the French era of Napoleon III (1852–1870)—it features a fan-shaped cross surmounting a winged angelic mask; a central oval glazed compartment for housing a relic, set against a crescent moon; and openwork floral and foliate ornamentation flanked by sheaves of wheat. The piece incorporates an amphora-shaped vase with handles and rests upon a support adorned with scrolling acanthus leaves, which rises from a pair of lion-shaped mounts and sits atop a shaped plinth base.

Dimensions: Height 49.53 cm, Width 18.42 cm, Depth 10.16 cm.

It was perhaps donated to the Sanctuary on the occasion of the Coronation of the Madonna (1886). The specific relic it once contained remains unknown. It was traditionally carried in procession on *Lunedi in Albis* (the Monday after Easter).

The piece was stolen in the early 1970s (between 1973 and 1976). Discovered online at an antique dealer in Texas (USA) in March 2026 by a young man from Moschiano, it was subsequently repurchased by a family of Moschiano origin and presented as a gift to the Sanctuary on the 140 th anniversary of the coronation.