According to P. M. Bardi in a letter of November 5, 1976 to Mr. Erminio Lunardelli, the Masp work – Still Life – may be the pair of “a painting that, around 1960, belonged to a well-known Viennese antique dealer, and the attribution to Nuvolone was made possible owing to the presence of a very clear signature. Even when in Vienna, the painting revealed an incomparably higher quality than the religious themes executed by Nuvolone himself Therefore, the attribution to Nuvolone is completely correct, regardless of the signature. Concerning the latter it is probable that it may be interpreted as “panphilus nvvolonus fecit 1620 (?)”. The work to which Bardi was referring is certainly the still life published by De Logu (1962, p. 163, fig. 11), then in the Sanct Lucas Gallery, in Vienna, signed and dated: "panphilvs nvvolonvs cre[mon]a 1617”. The work is in every sense similar to that of the Masp, including utilization of the same fruit bowl, and, although its measurements are not known, it could really be considered a pair of the Masp picture, which unfortunately is in a poor state of conservation. Another work published by De Logu (1931, p. 163, fig. 288), then in the Dubini’s Collection, in Milan, and successively republished by Volpe (1964, p. 30, fig. 9b) and by Morandotti, Natale (1989, I, p. 227, fig. 257) presents characteristics that are extremely similar to the Masp work and could also be a pair if its measurements were not so much smaller than those of the Masp’s work. The supposition that the work, formerly in Vienna’s Sanct Lucas Gallery is really a pair of the Masp work is strengthened by the fact that Nuvolone painted pairs, as documented in the inventories of the Sabauda Gallery in Turin.

— Unknown authorship, 1998

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