Large oval glass-fronted silver pendant reliquary theca decorated around the perimeter with an ellaborate filligree and housing the first-class Ex Ossibus (of the bone) relic of Saint John the Baptist. A substantial relic is affixed to the red silk ground surrounded by silver wire and gilt paperolle ornamentation and identified in Latin on a typeset cedula label as S. Joannis Baptist. (St. John the Baptist). On the back, the theca is secured with a perfectly preserved seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of Fr. Paolo Da Ponte O.C.D. (†1792), Bishop of Torcello, Italy (1773-1792). The theca is accompanied by an original matching authentics documents issued and signed by Bishop Da Ponte in 1776 where the relic is identified as Particulas es ossib. S. Joannis Baptiste Precursoris D. N. J. Christi prius recognitas ab Emic. R. E. Cardinali Columnas (fragments of the bone of St. John the Baptist, the Precursor of O[ur] L[ord] J[esus] Christ, previously recognized by his eminence R. E. Cardinal Columnas).
Saint John the Baptist known as the prophet Yahya in the Qur'an was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century AD. John is revered as a major religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Mandaeism. He is called a prophet by all of these traditions and honored as a saint in many Christian traditions. He is a Patron saint of Jordan, Puerto Rico, Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem, French Canada, Newfoundland, Cesena, Florence, Genoa, Monza, Perth (Scotland), Porto, San Juan, Turin, Xewkija, and many other places.
Monsignor Marcantonio Colonna (†1793), whom the certification names the original certifier, was an important Italian Cardinal who served as the Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (1763-1784).