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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder Palace of Galienus and Temple of Tudela, Bordeaux ca. 1602-1604 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder La Tour Magne at Nîmes ca. 1602-1604 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
"Compared with other Netherlandish artists who went to Italy, we know a great deal about Gerard ter Borch the Elder (ca. 1582-1662). This is because the studio effects remained in the family until 1887, when they were acquired almost in their entirety by the Rijksmuseum. They include more than 30 drawings that Ter Borch made on his visit to Italy, as well as hundreds of drawings by Gerard the Younger and by his other children. . . . We do not know for certain which route Ter Borch took to get to Italy, but he probably travelled first by sea around the Southern Netherlands to Bordeaux. One drawing [above] has survived from that visit. He then went overland to Nîmes, from where we also know of one drawing [also above]. Most of the surviving works from his Italian period are views of Rome. The Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla [below] is the only work dated 1607, some years after his departure from the Netherlands, so we do not know exactly when he arrived in Rome. In 1608 Ter Borch was living in the palazzo of Cardinal Colonna. . . . He may have been in Colonna's service in 1608 and undertaken work for him. Whereas there are no surviving drawings by him dated 1608, we know of several that are dated 1609. Most of them are of ancient ruins and monuments. One of them is another picture of The Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla [also below]."
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome 1607 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome ca. 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
"View of the Pincio and View of San Stefano Rotunda could be characterized as landscapes. Ter Borch also depicted a street of ordinary houses in Rome, The Via Panisperna: the tower of Santa Maria Maggiore can be seen in the distance. [In 1609 as well he] made studies of Roman sculptures, among them the statue of Urania and a relief on the Arch of Constantine [all below]."
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder View of the Pincio, Rome 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder View of San Stefano Rotondo, Rome 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder Via Panisperna near Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder Statue of the Muse Urania, Rome 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder Relief of Trajan's victory over the Dacians, from the Arch of Constantine, Rome 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
"Ter Borch was also venturing out into the countryside around Rome with his sketchbook. In 1609 he drew a Landscape with the Pons Milvius and a View of the Garden of the Villa Madama [below]. On the reverse, in Gerard ter Borch's early handwriting, is written vinia maddamma, the garden of the Villa Madama on Monte Mario to the north of the Vatican. This garden was named after Alessandro de' Medici's widow, Margaret of Austria, who was known as 'Madama'. [Three more views of this wooded garden were composed in the following year, all below]."
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder Landscape with the Pons Milvius, near Rome (site of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312) 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder View of the garden of the Villa Madama, Rome 1609 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder View of the garden of the Villa Madama, Rome ca. 1610 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder View of the garden of the Villa Madama, Rome ca. 1610 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gerard ter Borch the Elder View of the garden of the Villa Madama, Rome ca. 1610 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
– Peter Schatborn, from the catalogue of a 2001 exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, published in English as Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, translated by Lynne Richards