Rome, about 400 
Ivory, 30.7 x 13.4 cm

Museo delle Arti Decorative/Castello Sforzesco, Milan

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This ivory plaque has a depiction of the Holy Sepulcher, whose ornamented roof line divides the relief into two equal parts. In the upper half, beneath the symbols for Matthew and Luke, are two Roman guards struck down with fear at the opening of the tomb. In the lower half, before the tomb's open doors (decorated with the Raising of Lazarus and Christ addressing Zacchaeus), is a scene generally interpreted as the angel announcing to Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of James, that Christ had risen.
It has been interpreted this composition as representing a conflation of the scene of announcement with the subsequent episode of Christ appearing to the two Marys, since in conformity with the later text passage, the women are shown bowing in adoration, grasping the feet of the seated figure. 

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(Read more at Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century)