Portrait of Margherita Rimoldi Codoni

Margherita Codoni (1862-1937), came from a very poor and numerous family, she arrived in Milan at 15 yeasr old to work as a seamstress. He immediately married a poor carpenter, and after years of unprofitable work, convinced him to open a grocery store in Corso Venezia, near the Male Seminary. After years of hard work side by side the two manage to start a fruit and vegetable trade, even outside the national borders. In her will she allocates a portion of her substances to the Ospedale Maggiore, recalling how many times the husband had been treated in the hard years of poverty, for the construction of the new Niguarda complex. The commission of the portrait is entrusted to Luigi Brignoli, suggested by the same benefactor. He describes her with impetus, with very dense brushstrokes, in a representation where, prevailing the dark colors (apart from the red cloth that can be seen on the armchair, with the painter's signature), the fulcrum of the composition on which the attention is concentrated is the bright face of the benefactor. The family declares itself very satisfied with the work.