Anthonio or Antonio van Dijck, born on 22 March 1599 in Antwerp where he was the pupil of Hendrick van Balen in 1609. He was working independently in Antwerp from c. 1615 and became a master in the guild in 1618. In 1620 he was described as the principal assistant to Rubens, from whom he undoubtedly learned much, though the precise nature and length of their association remains unknown. In November 1620 he was in London in the service of James I. In 1621 he left Antwerp for Italy, where he worked principally in Genoa; he was briefly in France in 1625, and had returned to Antwerp by 1628.

By 1630 he was described as Court Painter to the Archduchess Isabella. He was in London by April 1632 and on 5 July he was knighted by Charles I, described as 'principalle paynter in Ordinary to their Majesties at St James'. In 1634 he was again in the Netherlands working mainly in Brussels, but by early 1635 he was in London where he worked for five years.

In October 1640 he was in Antwerp; in 1641 he was in Paris in January, in London from May to August, and in Paris again in November. He returned, ill, to London where he made his will on 4 December and died, at Blackfriars, on 9 December.