Officier te paard, urinerend, op de rug gezien 1631

This drawing, made by Gerard ter Borch the Younger around 1651, shows a mounted officer relieving himself. It’s made with brown ink on paper, a relatively inexpensive medium, which encouraged spontaneity. Look at the marks on the page. Ter Borch's confident lines bring this intimate moment to life. You can almost feel the weight of the rider on the horse. The very act depicted seems like a release of pressure. Consider the social context of this seemingly simple drawing. Ter Borch, son of a painter, moved easily among elite circles. Yet he chose here to depict a scene of casual indiscretion. Drawings like this weren't meant for grand display, but rather for private amusement and exchange. The immediacy of the medium suggests a world of shared jokes and observations, cutting across lines of social decorum. So while the subject may seem like a momentary lapse, it offers us a glimpse into the artist's world, and of 17th-century Dutch society.