 Francesco's identity as sitter was established in 1939–40 by the art historian Ernst Kantorowicz.His representation here bears striking resemblance to a documented contemporary portrait found in a piece of iconography in Rome, as well as to an attributed portrait in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.Francesco d'Este was the bastard son of the highly placed Lionello of Meliaduse d'Este, a marquis of Ferrara, Duke of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and the illegitimate son of Niccolò d'Este III.