This painting was commissioned by Morosini Zeltner herself and sent to the annual exhibition of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in 1852. This noblewoman of Venetian origin was one of the protagonists of the Risorgimento in Milan, and it was indeed due to the uprising that she is shown in mourning: her son, Emilio Morosini, was one of the first to climb onto the barricades during the Five Days of Milan in 1848, and he joined the Lombard Bersaglieri in Piedmont, but in 1849 he died, aged just eighteen, from wounds received in battle. This was the first portrait of members of the Morosini and Negroni Prati families painted by Francesco Hayez.
From May 15 to 27, the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan hosts Art in Respect – A dialogue, a solo exhibition by artist and couturier Filippo Sorcinelli.
To celebrate Mother's Day, on Sunday 11 May the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana is offering free admission to all mothers accompanied by their children.
