Monstrance (or Custodial)

A vessel used to display the consecrated Host for veneration by the faithful, this monstrance in gold bears features of the neoclassical period and is a traditional sun-shaped monstrance, the receptacle being surrounded by a radiant halo, a design evocative of sunrays.
The monstrance is adorned with references to Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection: the lamb sitting on the ‘Book of the Apocalypse’; the mythical phoenix with the power of being reborn from the ashes;
the mother pelican feeding her offspring with her own flesh and blood; the ‘Sacrificial Altar’ and the sheaf of wheat and the vine – bread and wine – symbols of Christ’s body and blood.