The most recent studies on the Milanese painting have paid insufficient attention to the removal of the Announcing Angel and Virgin Annunciate, a separation that has left clear traces on their state of conservation. These two panels resurfaced on the Florentine art market prior to 1993, as noted in a handwritten note found on the back of a photograph in the Federico Zeri Photographic Archive in Bologna. Recognising these panels as part of the Poldi Pezzoli triptych has been a significant scholarly achievement, allowing for the partial restoration of the original coherence of the work, which had been long lost.

In the catalogue for the Kleinberger Galleries exhibition (fig. 1), Osvald Sirén and Maurice W. Brockwell attributed the triptych to Jacopo di Cione, suggesting an overly early date in the mid-to-third quarter of the 14th century. However, Bernard Berenson later identified it as the work of a close follower of the Florentine painter Lorenzo di Niccolò, a Florentine painter, highlighting in it “the style of the conscious Gothic of the late century, a grace and sweetness that surpass even Spinello and lean more toward Lorenzo Monaco”. 

Building on Berenson’s observations, Federico Zeri in 1968 attributed the triptych to an anonymous artist he named as the Master of 1416. This identification was based on the date inscribed on another significant work attributed to this artist, the Madonna and Child with Saints Peter, John the Baptist, Anthony Abbot, and Julian, housed in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. Around this cornerstone piece, Zeri grouped other paintings, all dating to the first two decades of the 15th century. He identified the artist as one who, beginning his career under Lorenzo di Niccolò within the neo-Giottesque tradition of late 14th century Florence, was influenced by the international style ushered in by Gherardo Starnina’s return from Spain and his collaboration with Lorenzo Ghiberti and Lorenzo Monaco.