The sitter (like his father often called ‘Luigi’ in the Müller family) was born on 18 February 1860, and married Berta Britschgy (whom Muller-Ury also painted, for his mother-in-law) in 1894. He died on 14 June 1914. This picture was painted posthumously in New York and shipped to Alpnachstad, Switzerland where he ran a hotel.