Born in Mechelen in 1570, Denijs Van Alsloot became a master in the Brussels guild of painters in 1599. However, it remains unknown as to where he received his training. As the son of a tapestry worker, he must have met painters during his youth who produced cartoons for his father. In 1599, Denijs Van Alsloot became the official painter of Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella. Through his work, he accurately portrayed their estates and the festivities, processions and celebrations that took place during their reign, such as the images of the Ommeganck of Brussels in 1615, painted by Denis van Alsloot the following year. Of this series, two paintings are held by the Prado Museum in Madrid and other two 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 was a particularly important artist because he developed a concept of the panoramic landscape that became the starting point for the Brussels school's expansion of the composition. Landscape acquired a less closed structure, which was particularly noticeable in the amount of space awarded the sky, which now filled approximately a quarter of the painting's surface. Influenced by Gillis van Coninxloo, Jan Brueghel the Elder and Paul Bril, Denijs Van Alsloot can be considered as the first Brussels landscape painter. Its originality lies in its riotous, profound and elaborate depiction of the natural environment that lay just beyond the gates of Brussels.