Circa 1568 Mechelen – Brussels 1625/1626
Born in Mechelen around 1568, Denijs Van Alsloot became a master in the Brussels guild of painters in 1599. However, the location of his initial training remains unknown. As the son of a tapestry worker, he must have met painters during his youth who produced cartoons for his father. In 1599, Alsloot became the official painter of Archduke Albert (1559 – 1621) and Archduchess Isabella (1566 – 1633). Through his work, he accurately portrayed their estates as well as the festivities, processions and celebrations that took place during their reign, such as the depictions of the Ommeganck of Brussels in 1615, painted by the artist the following year. Of this series of canvases, two are held by the Prado Museum in Madrid and two others by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. These paintings, of which there were originally eight, are undoubtedly Van Alsloot's best-known documentary works.
Van Alsloot played a pivotal role in developing a concept of the panoramic landscape that became the starting point for the Brussels school's compositional expansion. Landscape acquired a less closed structure, particularly noticeable in the amount of space allotted to the sky, which now filled approximately a quarter of the painting's surface. Influenced by Gillis van Coninxloo (1544 – 1607), Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 – 1625) and Paul Bril (1553/1554 – 1626), Denijs Van Alsloot can be considered the first Brussels landscape painter. His originality lies in his riotous, profound and elaborate depiction of the natural environment that lay just beyond the city gates.