In the fifteenth century, the formats commonly used for independent portraits on panels were the profile and the three-quarter view. The latter's putative origin is considered to be the region of Flanders, then part of the Duchy of Burgundy, and its characteristics are discussed in the next chapter. The profile format was popular in central-northern Italy. Their commissions rose alongside those of sculpted likenesses, perhaps betraying an emulation of the ancient cultures that honoured the effigies of the dead as a reminder of ideal behaviours. Due to their unchanging characteristics, it is difficult to date the early paintings with precision, as the chronology of a Portrait of a Man, now in Washington DC, shows [Fig. 3.1]. From ca.1450, male portraiture developed a wider range of angles, but the profile remained steadily in use for women. The task here is to understand this phenomenon.

I have traced fifty-seven female portraits: seven from the central Italian principalities, one Venetian or Ferrarese, three from Venice, sixteen from the Duchy of Milan; and a staggering thirty from Florence. There may be more and, indeed, I have found others that are not included in the catalogue because I could not verify their originality. Yet, even if these leftovers were forgeries, they stand as an indication of the health of the market for these items.