Richard White, 2d earl of Bantry [1800-1868], County Cork, Ireland, who perhaps bought it in Italy c. 1820; by descent to Mrs. Shelswell-White. (Unspecified dealer, Dublin, as by Pellegrini, in 1955); (David Carritt for Geoffrey Merton, London), 1956.[1] (Thomas Agnew & Sons, London); purchased 1964 by NGA. [1] The discovery of the series of Tasso paintings, of which this and NGA 1964.21.1 are part, is variously recounted in the early literature (see references). Only Antonio Morassi, "Aggiunta al Guardi: le cinque 'Storie' della Gerusalemme liberata", _Emporium_ 131 (1960): 247; Fern Rusk Shapley, _Catalogue of Italian Paintings_, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:232; and a few contemporary news accounts, for example, _Giornale del Mattino_ 30 October 1959, mention the "Dublin dealer." The rest report that Carritt discovered them in "the shed of an old house in Ireland." There is no evidence which of the Bantry residences originally housed the paintings, or when and where they were acquired. An unsubstantiated, and unlikely, rumor that the paintings were once at Versailles is variously reported in the NGA curatorial files. Francis J.B. Watson, "Guardi and England", in _Problemi Guardeschi. Atti del convegno di studi promossi della Mostra dei Guardi. 13-14 settembre 1965_, Venice, 1967: 212, speculated that the earl of Bantry may have acquired the paintings as works by François Boucher (1703-1770).