Riccardo Nobili was an Italian painter, writer and art dealer. His mother Elena was also a painter. After beginning his training at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Nobili moved to Paris, where he continued his studies at the Académie Julian, specialising in genre painting and city views. In the 1880s, he presented his works at several exhibitions in Italy. Nobili was also the author of several novels and of some books about art forgery. In 1933, he married the American Grace Cleveland Porter, great-niece of the American President Grover Cleveland. After Nobili's death, his wife donated his self-portrait to the Uffizi Gallery. A year after his death, a posthumous exhibition of his works was shown in Florence. Many of the paintings are nostalgic views of Florence, showing parts of the city that were destroyed during urban renewal programmes in the late 19th century.