Supposedly shaped like a dove colomba is an enriched sweet bread very similar to panettone.
In the 1930s, the Christmastime treat was already being produced industrially but was, of course, only sold for a short period of the year. In order to boost sales, the Milanese baking company Motta came up with a new product which used the same equipment and almost the same dough as panettone.
Traditionally, colomba was made with candied fruit and topped with whole almonds and icing whereas panettone had both dried and candied fruit but no icing. These days the two desserts are almost interchangeable and both come in a variety of flavours, such as pear and chocolate, cherry, and pistachio.