Both panels were originally part of an altarpiece for a small portable altar. They had been the panels on either side of the central composition. They have been placed together in an old 16th century frame - not the original one. They were often referred to in the literature as The Annunciation, although they do not present the given subject as a scene. The same portable altar had two other panels with depictions of St. Dominic and St. Jerome, held in the Hermitage. These panels were created during the master's late period.