Portrait of Bartolomeo Brera

Bartolomeo Brera (1852-1930), owner of the pharmacy of the same name, on the corner of Corso Venezia and Via Senato, belongs to a benefactor family of the Ospedale Maggiore (his brother Monsignor Carlo, his sisters Rachele and Giuseppina, who renounces the portrait in favor of that of his brother, Dr. Lorenzo). He was dedicated to charitable works and a member of various Councils of welfare institutions (he is a counselor in the Lombard Association for Public Morality, in the Congregation of Charity, and president of the Conference of San Vincenzo at the Parish of San Babila), in his will he allocates 100,000 lire in favor of the Hospital.
In his testament he adds this note: "Returning now from the exhibition of the paintings of Ospedale Maggiore benefactors, I would like to declare that the portrait I will have from the Hosptial Administration will be executed by a skilful and serious painter of any school, other than the Futurist or Twentieth century ". The commission of the portrait is entrusted to Leonardo Dudreville, despite his past as "futurist" and "novecentista", who performs a work devoid of embellishment, realistic "in the modesty of seeing objects for those who are", as he himself writes, representing the benefactor on the doorstep, in an environment and with a familiar and everyday attitude.