The Story
Portrait of a Woman, c. 1665. Gerard ter Borch (Dutch, 1617–1681). Oil on canvas; framed: 87.5 x 77 x 7 cm (34 7/16 x 30 5/16 x 2 3/4 in.); unframed: 63.3 x 52.7 cm (24 15/16 x 20 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection, 1944.93
Created in 1665 during the Baroque period, this work belongs firmly within the portrait tradition. Gerard ter Borch worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.
Executed in oil on canvas, measuring Framed: 87.5 x 77 x 7 cm (34 7/16 x 30 5/16 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 63.3 x 52.7 cm (24 15/16 x 20 3/4 in.), the surface rewards close looking. Gerard ter Borch builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
