Possibly acquired between 1768 and 1772 by Gustaf Adolf Sparre [1746-1794], Sahlgren-Sparre Palace, Göteborg, and, after 1775, Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle, near Helsingborg, Sweden; by inheritance to his wife, Elisabet Sofia Amalia Beata Sparre [née Ramel, 1753-1830], Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle; by inheritance to her grandson, Gustaf Adolf Frederik De la Gardie [1800-1833], Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle; by inheritance to his father, Jacob Gustaf De la Gardie [1768-1842], Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle; sold a few years after 1837 [when De Geer had purchased Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle] with the entire Sparre collection to Carl De Geer of Leustra [1781-1861]; placed 1855 into a family trust under care of his granddaughter, Elizabeth Wachtmeister [née von Platen, 1834-1918], Castle Wanås, near Kristianstad, Sweden;[1] sold 1926 by the Wachtmeister Trust to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold December 1926 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA. [1] This possible provenance and the preceding chain of ownership are outlined in Ben P. J. Broos et al., _Great Dutch Paintings from America_, The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 387, 390. For information about the Sparre collection, see Ingmar Hasselgren, Konstsamlaren Gustaf Adolf Sparre, 1746-1794: hans studieresa, va°ning och konstsamling i Go¨teborg. Ph.D. diss., University of Göteborg, 1974. The painting was first published in 1884, when it was “discovered” in the Wachtmeister collection by Olof Granberg; see his article: "Drei unbekannte Gemälde von Rembrandt," _Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst_ 19 (1884): 30-32.