Early Life, Family and Training Alexander van Maasdijk enters the scene in Brussels on 1 October 1856. He is born into a household defined by the ministry; his father, Henricus (Henri) van Maasdijk, serves as a preacher. This domestic stability shifts in 1873 when Henricus dies, leaving the young Alexander to navigate his developing path in a changing landscape. The focus shifts to the studios of Brussels. Alexander van Maasdijk pursues formal training at the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, also known as the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Brussel. Here, the technic…