Portrait of Erminia Bozzotti

Erminia Bozzotti (1851-1937), whose parents owned the "Il biscione" inn in Piazza Fontana, dedicated herself to teaching, then becoming an appreciated teaching director. She separated from her husband a few months after the marriage and lost her four years old son. In the will she appoints heirs in equal parts to the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan and the Opera Pia Sordomuti, with the obligation of numerous legatees in favor of various charitable institutions, including the Istituto dei Ciechi (Institute of the Blind) and i Piccoli di Padre Beccaro (the Small of Padre Beccaro), to whom her sister Teresa, who had died twenty years before, had left all her worldly goods. The executor of the will proposes Ernesto Pirovano as the artist for the portrait, but Ezio Mojoli writes to the Artistic Commission advancing his candidacy because he had known the deceased. The assignment is delayed, meanwhile the relatives inform the executor that they have handed over the photographs of the benefactor to Pirovano and that the artist, even without an agreement, will deliver the finished portrait. The Commission first of all rejects it, clinging to the quirk that had been performed, marking official commissions, but, three months later, it is accepted both because Ernesto Pirovano was named for years for the assignment, and, above all, because the portrait is judged qualitatively valid and a good likeness.