Large bronze reliquary monstrance with relics of the True Cross of Jesus Christ

A large Gothic cruciform reliquary monstrance of gilt brass standing on three lion-claw feet. A central glass-fronted round cavity is housing particles from the Wood from the True Cross of Jesus Christ. The relics are displayed in a cruciform shape on the ground of red silk and are identified in French on a manuscript cedula label as Vraie Croix (The True Cross). On its back, under a protective cap, the theca is secured by an undisturbed seal of red Spanish wax with an imprint of a coat of arms of Raffaele Monaco La Valletta (†1896), Cardinal-Priest of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome and the Vicar General of Rome (1876–1880).

The True Cross is a significant Christian relic that is believed to contain physical remnants of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, according to Church tradition. In 326-28, Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, traveled to the Holy Land and discovered what was believed to be the hiding place of three crosses used in the crucifixion of Jesus and two thieves, St. Dismas and Gestas. A miracle then revealed which of the three was the True Cross. Over time, fragments of the True Cross were broken up and distributed widely. In fact, Cyril of Jerusalem noted in 348 that the "whole earth is full of the relics of the Cross of Christ." Many of the small relics of the True Cross found in Europe were obtained from Constantinople after the city was sacked during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. These relics were divided by the present bishops and distributed among knights who then donated them to various churches and monasteries. Today, these fragments remain important symbols of faith for many Christians.