Attributed to Laura Bernasconi active in Rome, late 17th Century

Laura Bernasconi was a student of Mario Nuzzi, and was his closest follower ("meglio di tutti lo imitò" according to the Abbate Lanzi, La Storia Pittorica della Italia, 1795/96, vol. II,  p. 198).  Although she is little known today, her work is recorded in many of the most important Roman collections of her day: eight floral still lifes by her are inventoried in the collection of Benedetto Pamphilj and payments were made to her between 1665 and 1670 for paintings (possibly in fresco?) of flowers in the Palazzo Colonna (see V. Golzio, Palazzi romani dalla Rinascita al Neoclassico, Bologna 1971, p. 97).