Portrait of Petronella de Waert

Petronella de Waert was almost certainly a member of the Deventer regent class, portrayed by ter Borch around 1670, toward the end of his career. The late date means this is among his most assured and economical works in portraiture — decades of experience distilled into a composition that looks effortlessly natural while being compositionally precise. By 1670 ter Borch's reputation was firmly established and his methods well practised; these late portraits have an ease that occasionally eluded his more effortful earlier commissions.

The sitter is presented in a standard three-quarter format with her dress — likely dark silk — occupying most of the lower two-thirds of the picture. Ter Borch's late brushwork is slightly looser than his 1640s portraits, but the attention to fabric sheen and the subtlety of the facial modelling remain fully intact.