The family can be traced back as far as Jacob van Nijeulandt, who is recorded as a citizen of Antwerp in 1561. One of his four children, Willem van Nieulandt (1533–96), married Adriana Nouts (d. 1608), and they had three sons: Willem van Nieulandt I (1560-1626), Joris van Nieulandt (1561–1626) and Adriaen van Nieulandt (d. 1603). Willem I was the first artist in the family. A painter and draughtsman, he lived and worked in Rome, where he was known as Guglielmo Terranova and where he became a member of the Accademia di San Luca in 1604. He probably painted figure pieces, but none of his work is known to have survived. His brother Adriaen was a pedlar and pen merchant and moved to Amsterdam with his family in 1589, probably because they were Calvinists. Adriaen's sons, Willem van Nieulandt II, Adriaen van Nieulandt the Younger and Jacob van Nieulandt (c. 1593–1616), all became painters. Jacob painted landscapes and genre pieces and was also an art dealer and innkeeper. He may have been trained by his brother Adriaen.