The painting depicts Alfonso Palettoni and has been attributed to the workshop of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, a.k.a. Il Guercino.
Born into a Spoletan family, he held various posts during the pontificate of Urban VIII Barberini, including that of governor of Cento in 1636-37 and of Fabriano in 1643. He was also appointed auditor general of the papal army and of Forte Urbano, the great fortification commissioned by the pontiff near Castelfranco dell’Emilia.
The Palettoni family owned a palace in Spoleto, still located in Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, which housed a rich collection, part of which was bequeathed in 1803 by the last descendant of the family to the Jesuit house in Spoleto. The works then passed to the Ospedale San Matteo and later became part of the Pinacoteca Comunale di Spoleto collection.
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The painting was made in 1637 by Paolo Antonio Barbieri, Guercino’s brother, who is remembered in sources as an “excellent painter of fish, birds, flowers and fruit”. From his account book, it appears that the work was commissioned by Alfonso Palettoni from Spoleto, governor of Cento, the home of the two painters, and of whom there is a portrait in Palazzo Collicola, also attributed to their workshop. Like the latter work, the Spezieria was part of a bequest from the last descendant of the Palettoni family to the Jesuit house in Spoleto, which later became part of the assets of the Ospedale San Matteo and later of the collection of the Pinacoteca Comunale di Spoleto.
Paolo Antonio Barbieri specialised in the production of still lifes and the great quality of this work shows his skills as a painter. He was also the true manager of the family workshop, based in Cento and later in Bologna, which became a real business from which the two brothers divided the proceeds.
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