Portrait of a Lady in Yellow

[1] For centuries the work was misattributed; it was purchased by the National Gallery London in 1866 as a portrait of Countess Palma of Urbino, attributed to Piero della Francesca.

Fry based his claim on several grounds, including technique, colour scheme and the form of the woman's face and drapery, all of which he believed could only be credited to Baldovinetti.

Drawing from his own observations and details from Giorgio Vasari's The Lives of the Artists he noted elements of Baldovinetti's style not common among contemporary Italian painters, including the manner in which he used tempera rather than hatching to fuse colour.

He further notes the use of dry colouration and straw yellow present in the work and typical of Baldovinetti, while Francesca tended towards more earthy skin tones with a bright luminous finish.

[5] The profile view allowed an easy way to render the particulars of a face, although it often highlighted unflattering features; her receding chins and brows, and the uneven line of her nose.

In addition, the image is largely static; the woman is fixed against a rigid and uniform blue background, and the only indication of movement is her falling locks of hair.

"[14] In 2008, the Evening Standard described the portrait as "so clear and sharp that she is as unreal as she is real...[a] painted ideal of fashionable blonde hair, pale skin, and unnaturally lofty brow.

[4] It was first suggested in 1924, largely based on the coat of arms, that she may be Francesca degli Stati, wife of Angelo Galli (d. 1459) a minor poet and diplomat from Urbino.

The emblem of the Galli family is identified in a June 1443 letter as consisting of tre penne (three pens), which may be a reference to the feathers as writing instruments, though Baldovinetti's portrait shows two, not three.