Focus on this artwork and discuss the Provenance.
The painting was commissioned for the convent church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo by Don Diego de Castilla in 1577. The Assumption remained in the church for over 200 years.
Around 1830 the painting was sold to the Infante Don Sebastián Gabriel de Borbón y Braganza in Madrid. In 1835 Spanish government confiscated the painting from him and installed in the Museo Nacional de Trinidad in Madrid, however in 1861 the painting was returned to Don Sebastián. After Don Sebastián's death in 1875, his heirs began to sell works from his collections. The painting was owned by his widow, the Infanta María Cristina de Borbón until her death in 1902, and then was lent by the Infanta's heirs to the Museo del Prado in Madrid in 1902–1904.
In 1904, the American painter Mary Cassatt persuaded the renowned Parisian art dealer Paul Durand–Ruel to purchase the painting, with the financing provided by H. O. Havemeyer. In 1906, the painting was sold to the Art Institute of Chicago.
Art Institute of Chicago Santo Domingo el Antiguo Infante Don Sebastián Gabriel de Borbón y Braganza Infanta María Cristina de Borbón Paul Durand–Ruel Mary Cassatt Museo del Prado Chicago H. O. Havemeyer.