Portrait of Jacob de Graeff

Jacob de Graeff was a member of the powerful Amsterdam regent family, also connected by marriage to Pieter de Graeff whom ter Borch had painted in 1647. This 1674 portrait is one of ter Borch's last — he died in 1681 — and documents his continuing access to the highest levels of Amsterdam and Overijssel society throughout his life. The de Graeff family was among the most influential dynasties in the Dutch Republic, holding key offices in Amsterdam's government for generations. A portrait commission from such a family was both an honour and a mark of the painter's sustained prestige.

The mature male sitter is depicted in three-quarter format in formal dress appropriate to his civic standing. Ter Borch's late handling is confident and slightly broader than his earlier work, though the precise rendering of the face and the attention to fabric quality remain fully intact.