Family life

Jheronimus was born in or shortly before 1450 as fourth child in a family of five children. The Van Aken family can truly be called a family of painters. His great-grandfather, grandfather, father and at least three of his four uncles were painters. Jheronimus and his two brothers will have learned the painter's trade from their father. Family members collaborated a lot, as appears from deeds in which they acted jointly. The place where they lived and worked was at Vughterstraat in 's‑Hertogenbosch, the most likely place of birth of Jheronimus. In 1462, Jheronimus' father Anthonius moved to the market, which can be considered a clear step forward. At least Jheronimus lived at the market until his marriage and after that he probably kept working in the studio located there.

An archive document dated 15 June 1481 mentions 'Jheronimus, as husband of Aleid van de Meervenne'. They probably married in or shortly before that year. Aleid was born around 1447 so she was a little older than Jheronimus. She came from a well-to-do family of merchants and because the family remained small, their possessions were hardly scattered. After their marriage, that remained childless, the couple settled at the Market in a house that Aleid already owned and that she used to let.