Panel depicting the Annunciation

The carved ivory panel depicts the episode of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel goes to Mary to announce the future birth of Jesus Christ.
The two characters can be identified from the monograms in Greek, preceded by a cross, positioned beside the figures.
The carved ivory panel depicts the episode of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel goes to Mary to announce the future birth of Jesus Christ.
The two characters can be identified from the monograms in Greek, preceded by a cross, positioned beside the figures.
The scene is within a classical architecture setting, in which capitals, columns and architecture are depicted with a strong perspective that partially alters their proportions. There are also differences in planes: the base of the Virgin's throne is positioned in front of a column, while the crowning of the throne itself is placed behind it.
Some formal details are very elegant: the position of the extremely long hands of the Madonna is slightly artificial, while the details of the angel's head, of his tunic, of the richly draped pallium and of the two sandals are beautiful.
The coexistence of all these elements has allowed us to attribute the tablet to a workshop located in the eastern Mediterranean, perhaps in Alexandria, in a phase of transition between the end of classicism and the first centuries of the Middle Ages (7th century).
In 1935 the work, property of the Trivulzio family, Milan, was sold to the Municipality of Milan, thus entering the collections of Castello Sforzesco.