Wolf- Ferrari abandons, in I gioielli della Madonna (The Jewels of the Madonna), his usual vein of comic opera for tragic realism, not entirely successfully. The Intermezzo from the second act may be heard in the concert-hall, as may, more rarely, the baritone Rafaele's Serenade, Aprila, o bella, la fenestrella (Open, fair one, the window), in the same act.

In Naples the leader of the Camorrists, a criminal gang, Rafaele, forces his attentions on Maliella, adopted daughter of Carmela, threatening even to rob the statue of the Madonna of jewels for her. Gennaro, son of Carmela, warns her about Rafaele, who serenades her by night. Gennaro, a blacksmith by trade, then takes his own secret keys and steals the jewels of the Madonna for Maliella. In the garden where she had heard Rafaele, she gives herself now to Gennaro. In the third act, at the meeting- place of the Camorrists, Rafaele claims that the attraction of Maliella lies in her virginity. Maliella now appears, to be rejected by Rafaele. Followed by Gennaro, she now resolves to drown herself, and Gennaro plunges a dagger into his own heart.