Lovely medal or medallion on easel for the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Guard, we think for her apparition in 1490 to Benedetto Pareto at Mount Figogna Italy requesting him to build a chapel on the mountain. He built it, and in 1915 the Vatican gave the then improved chapel the title of Basilica. it was visited by Pope John Paul II and the current Pope Benedict XVI. It would be NS Della Guardia in Italian, so this is a French medal for this beloved apparition, although there is a French Our Lady of the Guard associated with protection from the sea, etc at Marseilles. We have never had a medal at all for Our Lady of the Guard in all our years of collecting and this one is particularly nice. It is of a shiny gold tone metal with ornate French design and a self easel on the back; with the medallion measuring 2 & 3/4" tall and 2" wide. It is in good condition with working easel stand and nice patina.