Provenance

Hans Georg Werdmüller (1616-1678) Collection, Zurich, Switzerland (commissioned through an agent in Rome; Liber Veritatis 116, dated 1648); Captain T. B. Brydges Barrett Collection, Lee Priory, England, 1777; T.B. Brydges Barrett collection, Christie's sale, London, 28 May 1859, no. 147 (as "Sunset"); Peter Norton, private dealer, London; Sir Francis Cook Collection, 1st Bart. (1817-1901), Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, England, until 1901; by inheritance to Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd Bart. (1844-1920), Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, England (1901- d. 1920); by inheritance to Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd Bart. (1868-1939), Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, England (1920- d. 1939); by inheritance to Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th Bart. (1907-1978), Doughty House, Surrey, England (1939-1958); Cook Collection sale, Sotheby & Co., 25 June 1958, lot 55 (550£); Newhouse Galleries, Inc., New York.

Commission of Liber Veritatis 116 and Yale painting:
"First of three landscapes (nos. 115, 124) made in 1648 and 1651 for Hans Georg Werdmüller (1616-78). One is a small copper, the other, with somewhat similar scenery, a large canvas, and the third its pendant. The patron was a military engineer and collector from Zürich. He was elected a counselor of Zürich in 1648, and at the beginning of 1650 was sent as an envoy on a short military mission to Venice. He did not go to Rome. What brought him in touch with Claude is not known. In Italian he signed his name 'Verdmiller'; Claude's spelling is a correct phonetic rendering. Werdmüller, an amateur painter himself, increased his inherited collection; for instance, later he patronized the Dutch landscape painter Jan Hackaert (1629- c. 1699). The greater part of the collection was dispersed at the beginning of the 18th century and passed into foreign countries. The inventory of 1789 contains no Claude, but still has a few paintings of Asselyn, Salvator, Teniers, etc" (Röthlisberger 1961, Vol. I, p. 290).