These young musicians are the brothers and sisters of painter Jan Miense Molenaer. He is the man standing on the right. Playing music together symbolises the harmony within the family, yet there is also a sense of foreboding here. On the right, little Nicolaes is blowing bubbles – as a symbol of the transience of life. The combination of pleasure and a warning is typical of the merry companies painted in Haarlem from the early 17th century onwards.