Portrait of Luigi Marinoni

Luigi Marinoni (1847-1928) does not directly benefit the Maggiore Hospital. The sister Assunta (1862-1939), together with the legacy of 1,000,000 lire in favor of the hospital arranged in the will, also sent this "family" portrait of her brother, a work by Giuseppe Barbaglia. Marinoni had done himself from nothing. He came to Milan at the age of twelve from his native Lodi to look for work, found him as a grocer, and years later managed to open his own business in Corso di Porta Nuova. At that point he bring his sister Assunta from Lodi, entrusted her with managing the store while he began his career as a sales representative. When his sister marries a bronze engraver and craftsman, he gives them the shop and sets up a distillery. The business is successful, Marinoni also invests in real estate and when he dies he leaves his sister a million lire. Widow and childless, Assunta in her will divides her wealth between institutions and welfare institutions, including the hospital. She does not ask for any portrait for herself: her patrimony had come from her brother, she was certain of interpreting her wishes, it was up to him to appear in the Ca ’Granda collections. The portrait documents Giuseppe Barbaglia's brilliant qualities as a portraitist; from the hospital charts no useful elements emerge for the dating of the painting, which in any case seems to be placed in the maturity of the artist.