Portrait of Jan, Simon, and Hendrick Verstegen

• Portrait of Jan, Simon, and Hendrick Verstegen
• Group Portrait of Three Brothers, named Hendrick, Johannes and Simon

SK-A-4850

inscription, centre top on the cartellino: ‘Tres ter germani senos implevimus annos: / Henricus denos natus, eramque duos. / Joannes sequitur quinquennis: tertius hornus. / Sperni divitias vult sine veste Simon.’

Catholics in the Dutch Republic were only allowed to practise their faith secretly and formed a minority. The three brothers portrayed here were Catholic. The cross around the neck of the youngest child, Simon, references the Catholic faith. That he is depicted nude was probably to inspire the beholder to imitate Christ in his sobriety and simplicity. He would die shortly after the painting was completed.

painter: Thomas de Keyser

c. 1627 - c. 1632

olieverf op paneel

height 121.5 cm x width 88.4 cm

purchase 1987-12

Public domain

...; sale, London (Christie´s), 12 October 1979, no. 114;...; sale, London (Sotheby´s), 9 December 1987, no. 173, as Dirck Dircksz van Santvoort, to the museum

Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200109422