How does this artwork elucidate its History?
The first mention of the painting is in the inventory of Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici's artworks, as a work of  "Second Manner Raphael". In the 19th century it was attributed to  Perugino and Jacopo Francia, and then again to Perugino by  Antonio Ramirez de Montalvo, who discovered an inscription in the rear. This reads: "1494 DI LVGLIO PIETRO PERVGINO PINSE FRANC[ESC]O DEL LOPRE PEYNAGA".
It was long considered a self-portrait, and from 1883 it was therefore  exhibited in the gallery of self-portraits in the Vasarian Corridor. In 1881 the subject was finally  identified as   Francesco delle Opere (died 1516), a gem carver and a friend of Perugino.
 Jacopo Francia Raphael Leopoldo de' Medici Vasarian Corridor Perugino  Leopoldo de' Medici Francesco delle Opere Jacopo Francia