Annunciation Reliquary
PLACE/DATE
Italy, Florence, 16th century (late)
MATERIALS
Ebony, silver, precious stones and alabaster
DIMENSIONS
87,5 x 50,4 x 33,5 cm
INV
RL.1253
Reliquary in which the relics of the Holy Cross and a thorn from the crown of Christ are kept, in the form of a tabernacle evoking a temple of antiquity, a common choice for this type of object made at the end of the 16th century in the Florentine context.
In it we can recognise the replication of the structure of a doorway, composed of pairs of columns, topped by Doric capitals and smooth shafts, raised on three registers, like steps, and topped by a frieze and interrupted pediment.
It is also characterised by the use of noble materials, such as the silver elements alternating with small medallions of various coloured hard stones, and the columns and central panel in alabaster. In the latter, the natural veins of the stone were used to suggest the steps where the Archangel Gabriel makes the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary and the clouds of angelic glory from which the Holy Spirit descends.