INSPIRATION: Gerard ter Borch

A lady reading a letter.

Women writing a letter.

Woman drinking with sleeping soldier.

The Letter.

The Dispatch.

The Card Players.

A guard room.

Maybe it's an education thing but I have always associated the 17th century with what the Dutch paintings made of it. Those lights and shadows are still the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the period - and it's a preconception I have to fight against when I'm trying to write about 17th century England.

Still, I find my particular fondness for Early Modern Dutch painting a great help when it comes to mood research; it's easier for me to slip into the lives and minds of these people when I look at these pictures. Rembrandt in particular is a great inspiration, with his poetry of shadows, and his resolve never to compromise.

The National Gallery - my favourite place whether I need to be inspired or simply kill some time - hosts some Gerard ter Borch paintings (most famously The Ratification of the Treaty of Munster). I wasn't familiar with the painter during my college years but lately I've been more and more interested in his work, specially his portrayals of soldiers during their waiting hours, in between battles.

When one is obssessed about a particular subject it's inevitable that in this single-mindness state one finds connections in everything. And I mean everything. But I think that in the case of Borch's paintings I am justified in finding quite appealing how many of his works seem to be Relevant To My Interests. Not only his painting about soldiers in calm moments -a third of my novel is composed of such scenes- but also the recurring theme of letter-writing and letter-reading. And then individual works that strike me and inspire me, such as The Card Players, and particularly the Woman Washing Her Hands, both postratying the same actions as those found in pivotal moments in my story. As I said, maybe obssession, but I like it. Seeing artists from that period take on the same elements as I am strugling with makes me feel in good company, with my feet on the ground.

Link: Gerard Terborch Online.

Woman reading a letter.

Woman washing her hands.

Lady reading a letter.