Early Life, Family and Training Jean-Baptiste De Roy entered the world in the Brussels metropolitan area on March 29, 1759. He was born into a household where art was a constant presence. His father, François De Roy, worked as a painting dealer in Brussels, navigating the trade of canvases and frames. His parents, François and Anne Marie Borremans, had married in Brussels the year before his birth, in 1758. Growing up in such an environment likely meant that the business of art was part of the daily rhythm of his home. His formal education began at the art academy in Brussels, where he firs…