This panel depicting the seated Virgin receiving the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove is unusually thick, suggesting that it once belonged to a large altarpiece. A second panel, depicting the kneeling Angel Gabriel, completes the Annunciation scene and is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 403383). Both are thought to come from the same altarpiece, possibly the ‘Coronation’ triptych in the Magnani-Rocca Foundation (dated 1372). When juxtaposed the pair of paintings are visually conflicting, and they were perhaps separated over side panels.

The attribution to Giovanni del Biondo has not ben doubted; a distinctive and somewhat eccentric artist, his idiosyncrasies are well represented here in the wayward proportions, sharp, spiky features and strong sense of design. Acquired by Prince Albert in the nineteenth century, both panels were formerly in the Öttingen-Wallerstein Collection; old photographs show their folding, neo-Gothic frames bearing the Öttingen-Wallerstein arms.