# Portrait of Jan, Simon, and Hendrick Verstegen

- By: Thomas de Keyser (Amsterdam, ca. –1667)
- Date: c. 1627 - c. 1632
- Medium: panel, oil paint (paint)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: support: height 121.5 cm x width 88.4 cm
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-4850--e504590d6c3cee23c60d75532aacc02c)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/OaQYj/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Adult profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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.