Memorial Portrait of Moses ter Borch (1645-1667)

In the summer of 1667, during the war between the Dutch Republic and England, Dutch troops tried to storm Landguard Fort near Felixstowe on the English coast. Among the dead was Moses ter Borch, still in his early twenties. Soon afterwards two of his siblings, the painters Gerard and Gesina, made this memorial portrait together. Gerard painted the young man himself, and she painted the rocky setting and the objects around him, each chosen for its meaning. A pocket watch stands for time, a skull for death, ivy on the rocks for eternity, and the dogs for loyalty. In her will of 1690 Gesina asked that her family portraits, those of Moses included, be kept for the children and never sold. By 1853 the picture had reached New York, catalogued as a portrait of William of Orange.