Crook of a crosier with The Annunciation

The precious crosier from the Cistercian abbey of Chiusa Pesio is of a type that was much used in the early thirteenth century, with a scene of The Annunciation in the crook. The iconographic elements typical of this type of crosier are the position of Archangel Gabriel (with his right foot resting against the crook and his left foot crushing the upturned head of the serpent) and the gestures of the Madonna, whose cocoon-like dress takes from the Romanesque style, with her palms raised upwards in a sign of acceptance and obedience. The crosier was found in 1950 in a tomb near the abbey, which contained the remains of one of the abbots.