
Gerard ter BorchDutch, 1617–1681May one see it?
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
1632
In Amsterdam
The inscription on a study of a head proves that in 1632 he was in Amsterdam, where he possibly studied under Willem Cornelisz Duyster or Pieter Codde.
1633
Studies with Pieter de Molijn in Haarlem
In 1633 (other accounts say 1634) he goes to Haarlem to study under the landscape painter Pieter de Molijn and studies the art of Frans Hals; the training takes two years.
summer 1635
In London with his engraver uncle
In the summer of 1635 he goes to London to his uncle Robert van Voerst, a successful copper engraver, and meets the outstanding portraitist Anthony van Dyck.
1635
Master of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke
Having completed his training, in 1635 he is made a master of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke, which gives him the right to sign his own works; his first surviving painting dates from the same year.
1636–1643
Journeys through Italy, Spain and France
According to the biographer Arnold Houbraken, in 1636–1643 he travels through Italy, Spain, France and the Southern Netherlands; in Madrid he paints a portrait of Philip IV (not preserved) and comes under the influence of Velázquez. Other accounts say he was invited to Madrid later, where Philip IV gave him employment and a knighthood, but an intrigue forced him to return to the Netherlands.