[2][4] His father's profession has been variously described as that of a 'bouwmeester'[2] (master builder) or that of a 'houtbreker, munter ende werckman in Sijne Majesteytsmunte' (wood breaker, coin maker and workman in His Majesty's Mint).

[4] Upon the early death of his parents, his guardian sent him to study under the landscape painter Gaspar de Witte.

[4] His son Pieter Balthasar Huysmans, who was born on 7 January 1684, was trained by his father but died young in 1706.

[6] From about 1686 to 1688, Cornelis Huysmans stayed in London where he appears to have enjoyed the patronage of prominent members of society.

[3] In Mechelen Huysmans created the large-scale altarpiece The Road to Emmaus for the local Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-over-de-Dijle church in 1690.

Huysmans' landscapes are characterised by their intensive and precise observations of nature, especially in his rendering of forests and trees.

[5] While there is some similarity with the Arcadian works of Poussin with their classical architecture, the major influence on the artist was Jacques d'Arthois.

He used contrasts between colours and between the sharp light falling on roads and the dark hues of the tree trunks and foliage casting shadows to create a dramatic effect.