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Until the end of the nineteenth century, this picture was held to be a portrait of the young Raphael, painted by his father Giovanni Santi. Later it was attributed to Melozzo da Forli, and then to Piero della Francesca. The present attribution to Girolamo di Giovanni is based on stylistic similarities with the mural paintings by Girolamo di Giovanni in the ducal palace in Camerino.
The identity of the boy portrayed is unknown, although he was almost certainly the offspring of a ruling dynasty. The painting is one of the earliest known examples of a child's portrait, and it is possible that it was made to commemorate an heir who died young.
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