Portrait of Cesare Toninello

Born from a very modest family Cesare Toninello (1879-1937), first employed in a technical office, then in a sewing machine company, owes his fortune, once he arrived in Milan, to the idea of ​​setting up a washing shop and industrial ironing of starched collars and cuffs: the "Colli a nuovo" which, after a difficult start, takes off, becoming a landmark in the city. In his will, Toninello, who died at the age of 57, appoints his brother as heir, with a legacy of 220,000 lire together with the house he owned in favor of the Ospedale Maggiore. The commission of the portrait is entrusted to Isabella Pirovano, whose work is however judged inadequate to the artistic value of the Picture Book. The artist first makes changes to the picture, then presents one made from scratch, asking for 1000 lire more than the previously agreed compensation. In this second version, the cut is not narrative, the essential setting, the figure of the benefactor, well defined, deliberately without insisting on physiognomic features, fits well into the context and economy of the composition. The result is pleasant, in a non-obvious iconography.