Gerard ter BorchDutch, 1617–1681Two Heads Gazing Downwards
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Two Heads Gazing Downwards” now? Collection: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cambridge, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1.2018.30
In the catalog
Sources
- Harvard Art Museums
- Image: Harvard Art Museums — © President and Fellows of Harvard College
In the life of Gerard ter Borch
The whole lifeDecember 1617
Born
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.
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.
1646
Travels to Münster for the peace negotiations
In 1646, at the invitation of the Dutch ambassador Adriaen Pauw, he travels to Münster, where peace between Holland and Spain is being negotiated, paints portraits of the diplomats and attracts the attention of the Spanish ambassador, Count Peñaranda, who takes him into his service.
1648
Turns to interior scenes
Whereas earlier he painted mainly scenes of peasant and military life, from 1648 he gives more attention to domestic interiors with few figures: gallant couples, ladies reading a letter or making music.
8 December 1681
Died
