Carolina Pozzi, widow Poiblan dies in her Milanese house in Via Brera on April 29, 1901, appointing the Ospedale Maggiore as the universal heir, which, after honoring all the legates expected, remains in possession of the sum of 380,000 lire. The commission of the portrait is entrusted to Maria Merlini, one of the few artists who work for the hospital gallery, and of which to date this is the only known work.