Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 5, 1913.djvu/25

 xvii GERARD TER BORCH 9 5. The Conspiracy of the Count of Hoorn. Half-length figures playing backgammon. Full of truth to nature. Canvas. In the Palace, Potsdam ; inventory of 1773, No. 17 in the room beside the large marble hall. According to the catalogue, it had been in the " De L'Ormie " (Willem Lormier) collection, The Hague. It cannot be traced in the catalogue of this collection. In the Neues Palais, Potsdam, 1786 (Nicolai', iii. 1243) and 1858 (Parthey, ii. 626). 6. THE PEACE OF MUNSTER (May 15, 1648). Sm. i, and Suppl. 2. In the large hall of the Rathaus at Miinster the envoys of Philip IV. and of the Republic of the United Netherlands are assembled to conclude peace. The largest group of envoys, which is also the principal group, stands round a crescent-shaped table covered with a green cloth, upon which lie boxes, books, and parchments. On the extreme right stands an ecclesiastic in a long grey cloak. The six Dutch envoys, standing on the left of the table, repeat the words of the oath of ratification, with their right hands uplifted. The two Spanish envoys, the Count de Peneranda and Anthony de Brun, repeat the oath, with their right hands resting on a Bible which lies open on the table. The Dutch envoys are arranged so that the representative of Overijssel, Willem Ripperda, stands, seen in profile, on trie left. To the right of him, in order, are the representatives of Groningen, Frans van Dohna ; Utrecht, Godard van Reede ; Holland, Adriaan Pauw, seen in three-quarter face ; Friesland, Jan van Mathenesse ; and Gelderland, Barthold van Ghent. The last-named, like Count de Peneranda, and the envoy in a red cloak, holds a copy of the oath in his left hand. On the extreme left stands Ter Borch himself behind a gentleman, who stands immediately behind the chair of Godard van Reede. This gentleman, wearing high boots and a buff coat, holds his plumed hat in his right hand and rests his left hand on the back of the chair in front of him. Behind the men named stand other envoys, all bare-headed. Among them a man in a red costume is noticeable. By the side-walls and along the back-wall are groups of delegates standing on raised places in order to follow the proceedings. On the walls is some richly carved panelling. To the right is a window. From the ceiling hangs a handsome chandelier with the figure of a saint. This is Ter Borch's most important work in portraiture. The small heads of the figures, some sixty in number, are full of character and expression. Signed in full on the left at top, and dated 1648 ; copper, 17! inches by ii inches. A copy on copper, 18 inches by 23^- inches is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1911 catalogue, No. 576. It was in the Sale. A. C. Putman, Amsterdam, August 17, 1803, No. 80 (340 florins, Roos, as an original). In the National Museum, The Hague, 1808. Another copy is in the Rathaus, Miinster. A pasticcio, which was wrongly regarded as the work of Ter Borch but most probably is the work of G. Lundens, is in the possession of the town of Miinster, to which it was bequeathed by W. Huffer in 1895. Lundens altered the