When he was only fifteen, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under Nicaise de Keyser.

While there, he met Johann Friedrich Overbeck, a member of the Nazarene movement, who had a decisive influence on his style.

This prompted him to visit Germany and study the new types of mural painting that were developing there.

His largest mural is in the church of Saint George in Antwerp, which he painted together with Jan Swerts from 1859 to 1871.

In 1900, he suffered a stroke while teaching a class at the Academy and died the following year in Schaerbeek.