Despite continuing discussion surrounding its true origins, it is recognised in Italy as an indigenous Italian breed.

[3][4][5] The early history of the Padovana is unclear, and the subject of continuing discussion, as is its relationship to the Polish and the Dutch crested (Hollandse Kuifhoen [nl]) and Dutch bearded crested (Nederlandse Baardkuifhoen [nl]) breeds, which are variously considered to have originated in the Netherlands, in Poland, in Russia, or elsewhere.

[9] Two sources provide evidence of crested chickens in Europe in Roman times: the two marble statuettes of crested chickens observed in the Sala degli Animali of the Vatican Museums in 1927 by Alessandro Ghigi date from the first or second century AD;[10] a chicken skull excavated at West Hill, Uley, in Gloucestershire in England, shows the typical cerebral hernia of the crested breeds and dates from the fourth century.

[12] The Padovana is described and illustrated as gallina patavina, or Paduan hen, by Ulisse Aldrovandi in the second part of his work on ornithology, Ornithologiae tomus alter cum indice copiosissimo variarum linguarum, published in Bologna in 1600.

[14] Nine colour varieties are recognised for the Padovana, of which six are well-known and documented in older treatises: white, black, silver-laced, gold-laced, buff-laced and "sparrowhawk".