Moses ter Borch aan de Engelse kust c. 1667 - 1670

Gesina ter Borch made this watercolor and pen artwork, titled "Moses ter Borch aan de Engelse kust," as part of her family album. Gesina, unmarried, lived in a time when women’s creativity was often confined to domestic settings, yet she found ways to express her artistic voice. Here, her brother Moses stands elegantly dressed on the English coast, against a backdrop of naval ships. This is juxtaposed with the skeletal figures of death both in the sea and the landscape, creating a stark commentary on the ever-present dangers of maritime life and warfare. Moses was a marine officer, but also an artist. Gesina's depiction of him is poignant, as he would later die at sea. The underlying tension between the glorification of military service and the grim reality of death at sea is striking. What does it mean to remember someone through the lens of both admiration and sorrow, and to situate that personal grief within a broader narrative of national pride and military conflict?