Physical description
A guardroom scene with cavaliers and peasants resting in a domestic interior or a tavern.
Place of Origin
Haarlem, Holland (possibly, painted)
Date
1638 (painted)
Artist/maker
Borch, Gerard ter, born 1617 - died 1681 (maker)
Materials and Techniques
oil on oak panel
Marks and inscriptions
'GT [monogram] Borch, 1638'
Dimensions
Height: 33.4 cm estimate, Width: 42.5 cm estimate, Weight: 5.5 kg with frame, Height: 50 cm framed, Width: 59.2 cm framed
Object history note
In 1875 in the collection of Colonel William Maxwell; Christie's 24 February 1883, lot 281; purchased for £7.7s.0d. by Constantine Alexander Ionides; his inventory, (private collection), 24 February 1883 valued at £500; bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides, 1900
Historical significance: Ter Borch was one of the most accomplished painters of 17th-century Holland, enjoying a considerable reputation in his own day. From the 1640s he contributed to the development of a new genre type, showing simplified interiors with a few figures in an upright format. This composition became an important format for the second half of the 1600s. Early exponents of this new style are the so-called guardroom scenes such as the present one which are set in simple interior with full-length figures and are characterized by great refinement in the handling of colour, light, and texture and also by a subtle psychological interplay. This trend followed the manner of Amsterdam painters such as Pieter Codde (1599-1678) and Willem Duyster (ca.1598-1635) but Ter Borch introduced a new subtlety of light and naturalism.
Historical context note
Genre painting involving low class society, especially peasants but also as the decades progressed and the demand for such pictures evolved more elevated class exponents, became more and more popular throughout the 17th century in the Netherlands. These pictures usually depict scenes of everyday life set in domestic interiors or in the countryside. Scholars are still debating whether they bear a metaphorical meaning and hidden messages, or just feature a close depiction of contemporary events. In both case they are associated with health, pleasure and liberty. Dutch genre painting is also closely related to popular literature and culture, of which proverbs form a very important element. Amsterdam occupies a central place in the history of Dutch genre painting as the city attracted provincial painters from all over the country. However the demand for these pictures was intense and the category developed in almost every well known town (Leiden, Delft, Haarlem, Utrecht and The Hague). The chief leading figures of genre painting in Holland were Jan Steen (1626-1679), Frans van Mieris (1635-1681) and Gerard Ter Borch (1617-1681). Derivative artists like Richard Brakenburgh (1650-1702), Willem van Mieris (1662-1747) and Matthys Naiveu (1647-1726) survived to continue the tradition of genre painting into the eighteenth century.
Descriptive line
Oil painting, 'Cavaliers', Gerard ter Borch, 1638
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Kauffmann, C.M. Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, pp. 35-36, cat. no. 34.
The following is the full text of the entry:
"Gerard Ter BORCH (1617-81)
Dutch School
Born at Zwolle, Ter Borch was a pupil of Peter de Molijn in Haarlem in 1634 and entered the Haarlem guild in the following year. He travelled in England (1635), the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and perhaps also Spain. In 1654 he settled at Deventer, where he seems to have lived for the rest of his life.
He painted portraits, both of individuals and of groups, and also portrait miniatures, as well as genre scenes which were, from the 1650s, akin to those of Metsu in portraying the wealthier sections of the Dutch bourgeoisie.
Lit. S. J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard Ter Borch, The Hague, 1959-60.
34 CAVALIERS
Inscribed with a signature and date of doubtful authenticity GT (monogram) Borch, 1638
Oak panel
13 1/8 x 17 1/8 (33.4 x 42.5)
Ionides Bequest
CAI.84
This painting came to the Museum as an original work by Ter Borch and it was subsequently accepted by Bode in 1906 and Hofstede de Groot in 1912. Meanwhile, however, a restorer had convinced B. S. Long that the peculiar nature of the crackles indicated a 19th century copy and the picture was so catalogued in 1925. Nevertheless, it continued to be accepted as a genuine early work in the Ter Borch literature (Plietzsch, 1944; Gudlaugsson, 1959-60). Gudlaugsson suggested that the picture's strange appearance was due to the crackling of the 19th century varnish and his view was fully vindicated during its recent cleaning. The present signature does not appear to be genuine: Gudlaugsson suggests that it may be a 19th century version of a previous inscription, for the date 1638 fits well with the style and costumes of the painting. Another guardroom scene of about the same date was, until 1945, in the Kunsthalle at Bremen.
Condition. Cleaned 1961.
Prov. 1875 Hon. Colonel William(?) Maxwell; bought by Constantine Alexander Ionides at Christie's, 24 Feb. 1883, lot 281; bequeathed to the Museum in 1900.
Lit. Monkhouse, 1884, p. 214; W. von Bode, Great masters of Dutch & Flemish painting, 1909, p. 81; revised German ed. 1951, p. 138; Hofstede de Groot, v, 1912, no. 35; E. Plietzsch, Gerard Ter Borch, 1944, pp. 10, 38, pl. 5; S. J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard Ter Borch, The Hague, 1959-60, i, p. 39 f., pl. 11; ii, no. 11, p. 59 f.; J. Rosenberg, S. Slive and E. H. Ter Kuile, Dutch art and architecture 1600-1800, Pelican History of Art, 1966, p. 129, pl. 105A."
Monkhouse, Cosmo, Magazine of Arts, 1884, p. 214.
Masters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting, exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1984, p. XLIV, fig. 69.
Christopher Wright, Dutch painting in the Seventeenth Century: Images of a Golden Age in British Collections, London, 1989, p. 250.
W. von Bode, Great masters of Dutch & Flemish painting, 1909, p. 81; revised German ed. 1951, p. 138.
Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch Painters of the seventeenth century, V, 1912, no. 35
E. Plietzsch, Gerard Ter Borch, 1944, pp. 10, 38, pl. 5.
S. J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard Ter Borch, The Hague, 1959-60, i, p. 39 f., pl. 11; ii, no. 11, p. 59 f.
J. Rosenberg, S. Slive and E. H. Ter Kuile, Dutch art and architecture 1600-1800, Pelican History of Art, 1966, p. 129, pl. 105A.
Associated Events
Thirty Years War
Materials
Oil paint; Oak
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Guardrooms
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
