Mario Nuzzi, or Mario di Fiori (1603–1673) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 painter of the Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 period, active mainly in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. He was a pupil of the painter Tommaso Salini

Tommaso Salini

Tommaso Salini was an Italian painter of the early-Baroque period, active in Rome. He is best remembered for defending his friend, Giovanni Baglione, in his libel suit against Caravaggio and other painters in his circle. Baglioni describes his still life paintings. He joined the Accademia di San...

. He was among the first Italians specializing in still life

Still life

A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...

 painting of flower arrangements. He also painted a celebrated Concert of Birds, an often repeated model which here arranges an encyclopedic diversity of realistically depicted fowl on branches as a chorus around an owl.

Among his pupils are Laura Bernasconi

Laura Bernasconi

Laura Bernasconi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, known to be active in 1674. Born and died in Rome, she trained with Mario Nuzzi, and like him, painted still life paintings of flowers. This same thematic had been favored by Giovanna Garzoni, another woman painter in Rome who died in...

 and Domenico Bettini

Domenico Bettini

Domenico Bettini was an Italian painter of the Baroque. He was born in Florence. He was first a pupil of Jacopo Vignali, but afterwards went to Rome, and became a pupil of Mario Nuzzi. He painted still lifes with fruit, flowers, birds, and fish....

. A painting of Nuzzi at work, features a portrait by Giovanni Maria Morandi

Giovanni Maria Morandi

Giovanni Maria Morandi was an Italian painter, mainly active in Rome and his natal city of Florence, but also Venice.In Rome, he painted numerous altarpieces, including the Death of Mary in the church of Santa Maria della Pace, but also works in Santa Maria in Vallicella and Santa Maria del Popolo...

. He joined the Accademia di San Luca

Accademia di San Luca

The Accademia di San Luca, was founded in 1577 as an association of artists in Rome, under the directorship of Federico Zuccari, with the purpose of elevating the work of "artists", which included painters, sculptors and architects, above that of mere craftsmen. Other founders included Girolamo...

in Rome in 1657.