The inscription refers to Heelsum, a small village in Gelderland, between Rhenen and Arnhem, just outside of Renkum. Heelsum is represented in drawings by Saftleven in Leiden (Inv. no. A W-1277), in a private collection in Augsburg, in the Teyler Museum, Haarlem (Inv. no. P-46), and in the collection of Robert Jung, Freiburg. The sheet was probably made during the artist's journey through Gelderland in 1644, though he is also known to have redrawn compositions later in the studio based on sketches made while traveling.
Inscribed by the artist, at upper center, in brown ink. "tot Heelsom (partly cut off)"; and at lower right edge, traces of his monogram, in black chalk (partly cut off); at lower center, in another hand, in brown ink, "H. Sachtleben"; on the verso, at lower left, in graphite, "D. 30 fl".
Watermark: Fleur-de-lis in shield, surmounted by crown, over "4" and letters "WR", (Strasbourg lily).
Watermark: Countermark: Cross above letters "IHS" and "IR", (Christogram) (similar to Heawood, no. 1785: 1670).
Greville, Charles, 1762-1832, former owner.
Warwick, George Guy Greville, Earl of, 1818-1893, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, III, 188.
Stampfle, Felice. Rubens and Rembrandt in Their Century : Flemish and Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century from The Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1979, no. 86, repr.
Jane Shoaf Turner, with contributions by Felice Stampfle, Dutch Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library: Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries, New York, 2006, cat. no. 274.