The interest of the Marquis Palombara for alchemy was born probably on his attendance since 1656, at the roman court of queen Christina of Sweden, at "Riario" palace (today "Palazzo Corsini") on the slopes of the "Gianicolo" hill. After the queen converted to Catholicism, she abdicated the throne of Sweden and he spent much of the rest of his life exiled in Rome from 1655 until her death in 1689.