The Spiritual Portrait with Blue Mantle is believed to have been painted between 1476 and 1482, a period corresponding to Leonardo da Vinci's early maturity in Florence, under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici and in close proximity to the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. During these years, Leonardo was actively developing the sfumato technique, refining his understanding of light as a volumetric force rather than a surface phenomenon.

The pigments identified in this work — azurite, lead white, malachite, and iron-based earths — are entirely consistent with materials available and in use in Florentine ateliers of this precise decade. The poplar panel support, the handmade gesso ground, and the absence of any later industrial element further confirm a date of execution within this window.