A preference for the profile format and a tendency to avoid physiognomic detail make the attribution of early Florentine portraits problematic. This independent portrait is the only one that may, with some confidence, be ascribed to Masaccio, whose frescoes laid the groundwork for Renaissance portrait painting. Although much of its modeling has been lost, the figure nonetheless conveys a sense of three-dimensionality—like a portrait bust viewed in profile. The ear and lip endow the sitter with individuality.
