Carlo Giuseppe Cabiati (1722-1799), a rich silk, jewelery and valuables merchant, appoints the Ospedale Maggiore as universal heir, providing a lifetime usufruct for his wife, on condition, however, that she does not remarry. The commission of the portrait is entrusted to Anton Francesco Biondi, who in the span of thirty years performs 12 portraits for a Quadreria Ospedaliera, which represents him in a