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Similar in its architectural ornament to the Singing Gallery - and also ensconced in the wall of a building - is the Tabernacle of the Annunciation in Santa Croce, Florence. It is undocumented but formed the altarpiece of a former side chapel belonging to the Cavalcanti family. Carved in deep relief out of grey sandstone (pietra serena, a favourite Tuscan building stone), it shows the two participants at life size and almost in the round, as in a tableau vivant, on a tiny stage behind a proscenium arch. For the sake of clarity, the ornamental details of the architecture and Mary’s bedchamber are picked out in gilding, and the scene is enlivened by two pairs of mischievous infants teetering on the cornice above.
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