The Suitor's Visit

c. 1658

Gerard ter Borch the Younger

Painter, Dutch, 1617 - 1681

A man bows to a woman as another man looks on from the shadowy background, while a woman sitting at a table plays a lute in this vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. The bowing man enters from an open door to our left. He faces our right in profile and has a bumped nose, a dark mustache, and his brown hair falls loosely over his shoulders. He wears a voluminous, black jacket that has a wide white collar and flat, plate-like, starched white cuffs. He bends forward with one foot stretched in front of him, as he gazes at the woman to our right. His hands are spread wide. His left forefinger and thumb touch to make an O shape, and he holds a wide-brimmed, black hat in his right hand, closer to us. At the center of the composition, the woman wears a dress with a coral-pink bodice and a cream-white satin skirt trimmed with gold down the front and around the hem. She faces our left in profile and looks at the man, her cheeks flushed. Her eyebrows are slightly raised over dark eyes, and she has a straight nose and the hint of a double chin. Her blond hair is pulled back under a lace covering, and curls frame her face. A black ribbon is tied into a bow at the shoulder closer to us. A brown and white dog, about knee-high, stands between the man and woman. To our right, a young woman sits at the far side of a table playing a lute. She wears a sapphire-blue dress and looks down at her instrument. One elbow is propped on the patterned rug that covers the table. A second instrument, perhaps a cello, lies on the table, and a wooden chair with a pine-green upholstered seat has been pulled up to our side of the table. Almost lost in the shadows at the back of the room between the two women, a man with a goatee and wearing a brown jacket and trousers stands with his body angled to our right as he looks over his shoulder at the couple at the door. He stands in front of a fireplace with an opening so large that the mantle is supported by columns as tall as the man.

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Dutch seventeenth-century artists drew their subject matter from all elements of society. The refinement of the wealthy burghers in the second half of the century was best captured by Gerard ter Borch the Younger. His exquisite painting technique, which consisted of delicate touches with the brush and the use of thin glazes to suggest transparencies, allowed him to create realistic textural effects, whether of lace, satin, or the pile of an oriental tablecloth. His pictures’ calm moods and brilliant renditions of fabrics set a precedent for later painters such as Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) and Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667).

In this painting, an elegant gentleman bows gracefully as he enters the room. A young woman wearing a beautiful satin dress with an orange-red jacket stands to greet him while another woman plays a theorbo, a type of lute, at the table. Behind them a man warms his hands at the fireplace. The clothes, instruments, imposing mantelpiece, and gilded wallpaper all attest to the prosperity of the people. Ter Borch focused on the psychological interaction between the suitor and the standing woman, who communicate through glances and gestures.

Contemporary viewers would have greatly admired Ter Borch’s remarkable ability to render satins in The Suitor’s Visit, but they would also have been intrigued by the painting's subject matter. Does this scene depict an innocent social call, or does the graceful lady answering the door invite her suitor in for a sexual encounter? The answer is not easy to discern because the artist delighted in capturing the ambivalence of human relationships through his carefully considered renderings of gazes and gesture.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 50

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 80 x 75 cm (31 1/2 x 29 1/2 in.)
    framed: 110.8 x 106 x 12.7 cm (43 5/8 x 41 3/4 x 5 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.58

More About this Artwork

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: The Suitor's Visit, c. 1658

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Charles-Auguste-Louis-Joseph, duc de Morny [1811-1865], Paris; (his estate sale, at the Palais de la Présidence du Corps Législatif, Paris, 31 May-12 June 1865, no. 82); Josè Salamanca y Mayol [Marquès de Salamanca, d. 1866], Madrid; (sale, at his residence by Charles Pillet, Paris, 3-6 June 1867, no. 126); Baron Adolphe de Rothschild [1823-1900], Paris; by inheritance to his first cousin once-removed, Baron Maurice de Rothschild [1881-1957], Paris; (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold July 1922 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1939

  • Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 369.

2004

  • Gerard ter Borch, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 2004-2005, no. 30, repro.

2005

  • Sparkling Satin - The Best of Gerard ter Borch, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2005, no catalogue.

2017

  • Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry, Musée du Louvre, Paris; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2017-2018, no. 8.2, repro.

Bibliography

1863

  • Lagrange, Léon. "La Galerie de M. Le Duc De Morny." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 14 (April 1863): 289-306, 571, repro.

1937

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 82.

1939

  • McCall, George Henry. Masterpieces of art: Catalogue of European paintings and sculpture from 1300-1800. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Exh. cat. New York World's Fair, New York, 1939: no. 369.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 208, repro.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 191, no. 58.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Book of illustrations. 2nd ed. Washington, 1942: 58, repro. 32, 240.

1944

  • Plietzsch, Eduard. Gerard ter Borch. Vienna, 1944: 21, 47, no. 57, repro.

1948

  • Gudlaugsson, Sturla J. "De datering van de schilderijen van Gerard Ter Borch." Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 2 (1948–1949): 235, 263.

1949

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 91, repro.

  • L. J. Roggeveen. "De National Gallery of Art te Washington." Phoenix 4, no. 12 (December 1949): 339, repro.

1952

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 106-107, color repro.

1959

  • Gudlaugsson, Sturla J. Geraert ter Borch. 2 vols. The Hague, 1959-1960: 1(1959):116-119, repro. 119, 296; 2(1960):147-148, no. 139.

1960

  • Baird, Thomas P. Dutch Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art 7. Washington, 1960: 32, color repro.

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 25.

1962

  • Grinten, Evert F. van der. "Le cachalot et le mannequin: deux facettes de la réalité dans l’art hollandais du seizième et du dix-septième siècles." Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 13 (1962): 168, fig. 20.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 190, repro.

1965

  • Haverkamp-Begemann, Egbert. "Terborch's Lady at Her Toilet." Art News 64 (December 1965): 38-41, 62-63, fig. 8.

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 126.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1: 250, color repro. 1968.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 113, repro.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 141, color repro.

1974

  • Langemeyer, Gerhard. Gerard ter Borch: Zwolle 1617, Deventer 1681. Exh. cat. Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster. The Hague, 1974: 37.

  • Robinson, Franklin W. Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667): A Study of His Place in Dutch Genre Painting of the Golden Age. New York, 1974: 53-54.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 336, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 284, color repro.

1979

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 81, pl. 67.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 284, no. 371, color repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1984: 30-31, color repro.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 387, repro.

  • Rumsey, Thomas R. Men and women in revolution and war, 1600-1815. Wellesley Hills, MA, 1985: 57, repro.

1986

  • Mittler, Gene A. Art in Focus. Peoria, 1986: 26, fig. 2.14.

  • Ford, Terrence, compiler and ed. Inventory of Music Iconography, no. 1. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York 1986: 6, no. 130.

1987

  • Smith, David R. "Irony and Civility: Notes on the Convergence of Genre and Portraiture in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting." Art Bulletin 69 (September 1987): 423-424, repro.

1991

  • Roodenburg, Herman. "The ‘hand of friendship’: shaking hands and other gestures in the Dutch Republic" in A Cultural History of Gesture From Antiquity to the Present Day. (Cambridge, 1991). Edited by Jan Bremmer and Herman Roodenburg. Ithaca, 1992: 152-189, fig. 7.1.

  • Ydema, Onno. Carpets and Their Datings in Netherlandish Paintings, 1540-1700. Zutphen, 1991: 188, no. 860.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 133, repro.

  • Fiero, Gloria K. The Age of the Baroque and the European Enlightenment. The Humanist Tradition 4. 1st ed. [7th ed. 2015] Dubuque, Iowa, 1992: 47, fig. 22.7.

1993

  • Weyl, Martin, and Rivka Weiss-Blok, eds. Painting the Bible in Rembrandt's Holland. Exh. cat. Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam. Jerusalem, 1993: xv, 64, no. 58.

  • Kettering, Alison McNeil. "Ter Borch’s Ladies in Satin." Art History 16 (March 1993): 97, repro.

1995

  • Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New York, 1995: 795, fig. 19-55.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 26-28, color repro. 29.

  • Fiero, Gloria K. The Age of the Baroque and the European Enlightenment. The Humanistic Tradition 4. 2nd ed. [7th ed. 2015] Madison, 1995: 47, fig. 22.7.

1997

  • Kettering, Alison McNeil. "Ter Borch's Ladies in Satin" in Looking at seventeenth-century Dutch art: realism reconsidered. Edited by Wayne E. Franits. Cambridge, 1997: 98, 100, fig. 62.

1998

  • Witthoft, Brucia. "Marriage/Bethrothal." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art, edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:561.

  • Roberts, Helene E., ed. Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:561.

1999

  • Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. 2 vols. Revised ed. New York, 1999: 2:794-795, fig. 19-52.

2001

  • Westermann, Mariët, et al. Art & Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt. Exh. cat. Denver Art Museum; Newark Museum. Zwolle, 2001: 147.

2003

  • Bailey, Colin B., Philip Conisbee, and Thomas W. Gaehtgens. The age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: masterpieces of French genre painting. Edited by Colin B. Bailey. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museum zu Berlin. New Haven, 2003: 296, fig. 138.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 203, no. 161, color repro.

  • Franits, Wayne E. Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting. Its Stylistic and Thematic Evolution. New Haven and London, 2004: 100-101, fig. 89.

  • Waiboer, Adriaan, and Mary Davis. Gerard ter Borch. Exhibition brochure. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2004: unpaginated, repro.

  • Keyes, George S., et al. Masters of Dutch Painting: The Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2004: 32, fig. 2.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Gerard ter Borch. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Detroit Institute of Arts. New Haven, 2004: 13-14, 15, fig. 11, 123-125, no. 30, repro.

2005

  • Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. Rev. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, 2005: 777, fig. 19-65.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "Colour Symbolism in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting" in The Learned Eye: Regarding art, theory, and the artist's reputation: Essays for Ernst van de Wetering. Edited by Marieke van den Doel, et al. Amsterdam, 2005: 105, 107, fig. 3.

2011

  • Gustin Gomez, Clémentine. L’avènement du plaisir dans la peinture française, de Le Brun à Watteau. Dijon, 2011: 276, color repro.

2017

  • Ho, Angela K. Creating Distinctions in Dutch Genre Painting: Repetition and Invention. Amsterdam, 2017: 23, 102, color plate 3, cover.

2020

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Clouds, ice, and Bounty: The Lee and Juliet Folger Collection of Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2020: 22, fig. 6., 23.

Wikidata ID

Q20177479

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