Gerard ter Borch the Elder(Zwolle 1582/83 – 1662 Zwolle)

How to cite
McCarthy, Alexa J. “Gerard ter Borch the Elder” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed. Editedby Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artists/gerard-ter-borch-theelder/ (archived June 2020).
A PDF of every version of this biography is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrativeoccurs.

Gerard ter Borch the Elder began his artistic training in his native Zwolle, likely under Arent van Bolten(1573–before 1633). At the age of 18, in 1600 or 1601, Gerard the Elder traveled to Southern Europe, where
he would stay until about 1612.[1] During this period, the artist lived in Rome and Naples, producing theatmospheric vedute, or carefully rendered depictions of Italian landscapes and architectural monuments, forwhich he is best known. These drawings, most of which are dated between 1607 and 1610, comprised asketchbook that Gerard the Elder brought back with him to the Netherlands, where it was later
disassembled.[2]By mid–1612, Gerard the Elder had returned to Zwolle. There, he married Anna Bufkens (1587–1621), themother of artist Gerard ter Borch the Younger (1617–81).[3] Gerard the Elder’s drawings from the 1610s
represent expressive depictions of Old and New Testament subjects, as well as mythological scenes, which
depart from the carefully executed draftsmanship of his Italian period. By the early 1620s, Gerard the Elder’sartistic output began to decrease. In 1621, he assumed the role of his aged father, the license-master ofZwolle, a position Gerard the Elder would hold for about 40 years.[4] That same year, he married his secondwife, Geesken van Voerst (1599–1628). With Van Voerst, Gerard the Elder had two daughters, Sara, born in
1622, and Anna, born in 1624.[5] In addition, he would have nine children with his third wife, Wiesken Matthys(1607–83), among them Gesina (1631–90), who was born in 1631.[6] Despite his professional responsibilities,
Gerard the Elder continued to pursue some artistic activity, focusing his attentions on the talents of hisoffspring and capturing them in a group of figure studies from the 1630s, to which the Leiden Collection’s
Little Girl at a Table Holding a Slice of Melon belongs.[7]© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Gerard ter Borch the ElderPage 2 of 4- Alexa J. McCarthy, 2017

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Gerard ter Borch the ElderPage 3 of 4Endnotes

1. On Gerard ter Borch the Elder’s biography, see Alison McNeil Kettering, Drawings from theTer Borch Studio Estate, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1988) and Alison McNeil Kettering, “Gerard[Gerhard] ter Borch (i),” Grove Art Online: Oxford Art Online, accessed 28 October 2016.
2. Alison McNeil Kettering, Drawings from the Ter Borch Studio Estate (The Hague, 1988) 1: 5.
See also J.M. Blok, “Romeinsche teekeningen door G. Terborch, Sr. en W. van Nieulandt IIin ’s Rijksprentenkabinet te Amsterdam,” Mededelingen van het Nederlands Historisch
Instituut te Rome 5 (1925): 128–129 and I.Q. van Regteren Altena, Vereeuwigde Stad Romedoor Nederlanders Getekend 1500–1900 (Wormerveer, 1964).
3. Gerard ter Borch the Younger’s work is well-represented in the Leiden Collection. See theentries of his Musical Company of ca. 1642–1644, and his portraits of the four older
Craeyvanger Children executed in ca. 1658 in this catalogue.
4. Alison McNeil Kettering, Drawings from the Ter Borch Studio Estate (The Hague, 1988) 2: 5,
Appendix II, A I.
5. Alison McNeil Kettering, Drawings from the Ter Borch Studio Estate (The Hague, 1988), 1:
107.
6. Gesina would preserve the family estate, which included her own drawings and poetry books,
as well as drawings by her father and her siblings.
7. See the entry in this catalogue.

Literature
Bertolotti, Antonino. Artisti begli ed olandesi a Roma nei secoli XVI e XVII. Florence, 1880.
Egger, Hermann. Römische Veduten: Handzeichnungen aus dem XV.– XCIII. Jahrhundert. 2vols. Vienna, 1911.
Blok, J.M. “Romeinsche teekeningen door G. Terborch, Sr. en W. van Nieulandt II in ’s
Rijksprentenkabinet te Amsterdam.” Mededelingen van het Nederlands Instituut te Rome 5(1925): 128–36.
Van Regteren Altena, I.Q. Vereeuwigde Stad Rome door Nederlanders getekend
1500–1900. Wormerveer, 1964.
Snoep, D.P. “Een 17de eeuws liedboek met tekeningen van Gerard ter Borch de Oude en
Pieter en Roeland van Laer.” Simiolus 3 (1968/69): 77–134.
Judson, J. Richard. “Jacob Isaacz. van Swanenburgh and the Phlegraean Fields.” In Essays© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Gerard ter Borch the ElderPage 4 of 4in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann on His Sixtienth
Birthday. Edited by Anne-Marie Logan, 119–22. Doornspijk, 1983.
Kettering, Alison McNeil. Drawings from the Ter Borch Studio Estate. 2 vols. The Hague,
1988.
Kettering, Alison McNeil. “Gerard [Gerhard] ter Borch (i).” Grove Art Online: Oxford Art
Online. Accessed 28 October 2016.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection