[5] After a stay in Italy in 1618,[6] van Egmont returned to Antwerp and worked in the workshop of Rubens from the year 1625 (but possibly already starting from 1622) to about 1628, where he was involved in the series of paintings on The Life of Maria de Medici.

[7] While living in Antwerp, he had a relationship with Emerentia (Emerentiana) Bosschaert who bore him three sons out of wedlock: Joost (Justus), Konstantijn (Constantine) and Theodoor (Theodore) who were born between 1623 and 1627.

Their relationship was later regularized and the couple would have more children including sons Bonaventura and Philippe and daughters Prudentia, Marie and Anna Catharina.

[7] Some time between 1628 and 1630 van Egmont moved to Paris, where he had previously helped with matters relating to the delivery of, and payment for, Rubens' The Life of Maria de Medici cycle.

In Paris, van Egmont established a lifelong friendship with fellow Flemish painter Philippe de Champaigne.

[5] Van Egmont worked as a tapestry designer in the Paris workshop of Simon Vouet, one of the leading French painters of that time.

[7][2] Van Egmont also participated in large commissions such as the decoration of the 'Galerie des Hommes Illustres' (Gallery of Famous Men), a project at the Palais-Cardinal of Cardinal Richelieu, which de Champaigne had been contracted to undertake.

[7] In 1648, he was one of the founders of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and was elected as one of the original twelve elders in charge of its running.

[8][5] In January 1649 he was in Brussels where he painted a Portrait of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, then the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands and an avid art collector.

This reflected his aspiration to be recognized as an aristocrat (just like his illustrious masters van Dyck and Rubens) based on his claim to be a descendant of the famous house of Egmont.

[3] His estate included a large collection of artworks of Flemish as well as foreign artists such as Pourbus, Rubens, Salviati, Holbein, Tintoretto, Brueghel and Vredeman de Vries.

In the early 1650s he completed a series of very large portraits for Gaston, Duke of Orléans that were installed at the Palais du Luxembourg (now in the Château de Balleroy (Calvados)) and reference Rubens' style.

[3] In his later career he was able to synthesize the influences of Rubens and van Dyck as is shown in the group portrait of the three children of the Goubau family.

Also striking is the carefully balanced direction of the lighting, which binds the drawing style and the dynamic movement of the figures together in a spatially closed scene in which the main characters are clearly emphasized.