Focus on Shrovetide Revellers and analyze the Provenance.
The painting was first documented by Wilhelm von Bode in 1883, and after that was included in most catalogs of Hals' works, including by Ernst Wilhelm Moes in 1909, Hofstede de Groot in 1910, by W.R. Valentiner in 1923, and by Gerrit David Gratama in 1946. The Metropolitan Museum of Art lists an Amsterdam sale entry from 1765 mentioning a genre work of Vasten-Avond, or Shrove Tuesday, and Seymour Slive mentions a period drawing by Mathys van den Bergh.
The painting was bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City on the death of Benjamin Altman in 1913.  Altman paid $89,102 to acquire it from a Monsieur Cocret in 1907.  Cleaning in 1951 uncovered six heads in the background that had been painted out.
New York City Wilhelm von Bode Hofstede de Groot Ernst Wilhelm Moes Mathys van den Bergh Seymour Slive Shrove Tuesday W.R. Valentiner Gerrit David Gratama Benjamin Altman Metropolitan Museum of Art