(b Breda, c.1515; d Antwerp, ?5 June 1568). Netherlandish painter, mainly of portraits. He was probably a pupil of Lambert Lombard c.1540 in Liège. In 1542 he became a master in the painters' guild in Antwerp, where he spent the rest of his working life. Adriaen Thomasz. Key (c.1544–after 1589), was probably his pupil and perhaps a distant relative (although not his nephew, as previously believed). He became a master in the Antwerp guild in 1568. Both artists were highly regarded in their day and did assured and solid portraits of famous people. Their religious works are less well known, and many of Willem's perished at the hands of iconoclasts.