Thanks to archive research by Bredius we know who the figures are: members of a prominent catholic family in Amsterdam. Ostade, also a catholic, is the man standing on the right. The man sitting is Hendrick de Goyer, steward of Heemstede, his future wife Anna Questiers is the lady in pink. Holding a letter is Catharina Questiers, a well-known personality in her time. The poets Huygens and Vondel wrote about her, and she herself composed poetry and made etchings.