Focus on The Letter (ter Borch) and explore the Description and models.
The painting depicts three people, two women and a boy, reunited around a table with several objects. In the foreground there is a chair on which a small dog is sleeping. The background of the room is otherwise dark, although a chandelier is visible through a reflection. The interior, although of limited visibility, is typically Dutch.
The fashionably dressed lady on the right is strongly lit and is clearly the main character of the scene. She reads a letter, while the boy in the middle and the woman on the left, who was apparently also writing a letter, stare at her. They closely observe her reaction, but the interpretation of what goes on psychologically between the figures remains a mystery, and is left to the viewers mind.
The Letter was probably painted in ter Borgh's home in Deventer, where he made most of his works. At least two models in the painting are his relatives. The boy in the middle is certainly his half-brother Moses, while the letter-reading lady on the right is his half-sister Gesina, a regular model for him. Ter Borch often used relatives and acquaintances as models. Even the dog on the chair is probably his own, as the animal appears in several of his paintings.
Gesina Moses Deventer