Gerard ter Borch was born in December 1617 in
Zwolle in the province of
Overijssel in the
Dutch Republic. He received an excellent education from his father
Gerard ter Borch the Elder, also an artist, and developed his talent very early. The inscription on a study of a head proves that ter Borch was at
Amsterdam in 1632, where he studied possibly under
Willem Cornelisz Duyster or
Pieter Codde. Duyster's influence can be traced in a picture bearing the date 1638, in the Ionides Bequest (
Victoria and Albert Museum, London). In 1634 he studied under
Pieter de Molijn in
Haarlem. A record of this Haarlem period is the
Consultation (1635) at the
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. in
Amsterdam In 1635, he was in London, and subsequently he traveled in Germany, France, Spain and Italy. His sister
Gesina also became a painter. It is certain that he was in Rome in 1641, when he painted the small portraits on copper of
Jan Six,
A Young Lady (
Six Collection, Amsterdam) and the portrait of a Gentlemen (DMK Collection Nuermberg). In 1648 he was at
Münster during the
meeting of the congress which ratified the treaty of peace between the Spaniards and the Dutch, and executed his
celebrated little picture, painted upon copper, of the assembled plenipotentiaries—a work which, along with a portrait of a
Man Standing ("Portrait of a Young Man"), represents the master in the
National Gallery in London. The picture was bought by the Marquess of Hertford at the
Demidoff sale for £7280, and presented to the National Gallery by Sir
Richard Wallace, at the suggestion of his secretary, Sir John Murray Scott. modelled for his painting
Sitting Young Woman ( 1650) At this time ter Borch was invited to visit
Madrid, where he received employment and the honour of knighthood from
Philip IV, but, in consequence of an intrigue, it is said, he was obliged to return to the Netherlands. One of his great patrons was Amsterdam
burgomaster and statesman
Andries de Graeff. He seems to have resided for a time in
Haarlem; but he finally settled in
Deventer, where he became a member of the town council, as which he appears in the portrait now in the gallery of
The Hague. He died at Deventer in 1681. ==Notable works==