A lighting assembly for illuminating a display case, where the lighting assembly is mounted to a display case and includes a visibility envelop within which an onlooker of the display case cannot see. The lighting assembly includes an elongated frame provisioned to receive modular inserts and at least one modular insert operatively connected to the elongated frame. The at least one modular insert includes a light module, where the light module includes an optical lens and a light source. The optical lens is disposed over and/or around the light source and is disposed exclusively within the visibility envelope. The optical lens is fashioned to control light emitted from the light source using refraction and total internal reflection.