[1] Holman was born in Sluis in 1521 and entered the Abbey of Dunes as a youth.

His abbacy was marked by the social instability arising from the opening years of the Dutch Revolt.

He died in Bruges on 29 December 1579 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the church of the Poor Clares.

[2] Two portraits of Holman were exhibited in the 1902 Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges.

[3] Some scholars attribute these works to Gillis Claeissens.