_Gerard Terburg_ (Dutch: 1617-1681).
Terburg is the most refined of all the Dutch painters of
"conversation pieces." He depicts with admirable truth, both
in his portraits and _genre_ pictures, the life of the wealthy
and cultured classes of his time. His figures are well drawn
and expressive, and the accessories are duly subordinated.
He renders the texture of draperies with great skill, and
his colouring is at once rich and quiet. He was the son of a
wealthy man, a traveller and a connoisseur who himself imparted
the rudiments of art to his son. Gerard afterwards studied in
Amsterdam and Haarlem. In 1635 he visited England, and thence
made the grand tour of the Continent, studying the works of
Titian and others. On his return to Holland he remained some
time at Amsterdam, learning much from the works of Rembrandt.
In 1646 he was at Münster, where he painted the famous picture,
No. 896 in our Gallery. This excited such admiration on account
of the excellence of its portraits and general truth to nature,
that the Spanish ambassador took Terburg with him to Madrid,
where he was knighted by Philip IV. and had the opportunity of
adding a study of Velazquez to his artistic advantages. Terburg
settled eventually at Deventer, where he married and became
burgomaster: a full-length portrait of him in that capacity is
in the Museum at the Hague.
This is a characteristic example of the painter's conversation pieces.
Sir Robert Peel bought it in 1826 for 920 guineas.