Career
Little is known about the origins, formation and life of lieutenant was originally assumed that he was from Lille, which at the presumed time of his birth was part of the Southern Netherlands. Recent research, in particular that conducted by Vermet, has questioned the previous assumptions about the life of the artist and Aerts is now assumed to be a native of Mechelen. Vermet has further suggested that the clear influence of the work of the Flemish architecture painter Paul Vredeman de Vries is likely due to Aerts having been a pupil of Paul Vredeman de Vries.
The training probably took place when both artists resided in Gdańsk in the period from 1592 to 1595.
Aerts would then have accompanied Vredeman de Vries to Prague from 1596 to 1599, where he worked as his assistant in the decoration of the ceilings and the reception rooms of Emperor Rudolf II’s castle. From 1599 Aerts could have returned to Gdańsk, where he probably died in 1603.
(attributed - auctioned on 7 June 1994 by the Dorotheum in Vienna) 292.