Portrait of Chiara Boffi Pirogalli

The benefactress, owner of a gold and jewellery shop, wife of Filippo Pirogalli and sister of the canon Giulio Cesare Boffi, both benefactors of the Maggiore Hospital, appoints the latter as universal heir with her will of 16 July 1691, with two legates, one favour of two jewellers so that they can continue their activity and the other for the distribution of her jewels to some Milanese churches listed by her. The portrait was made by Salomon Adler, a painter from Gdansk, active in Venice, Bergamo and Milan, influenced by the great masters, especially by Rembrandt. It comes with the legacy of the deceased, as evidenced in Chiara Boffi's will the part that makes a payment of 144 lire to the "painter Salomon". In the painting, the benefactress shows off many elegant jewels, from the pearl necklace with a cross of precious stones to the bracelets, always of multi-strand pearls, to the rings on both ring fingers. Also under the small cloth resting on the table, in addition to the fan, there is a rosary concluded by a cross with a precious pendant, with evident allusion to her profession (and her personal gift of joy).