David Ryckaert III was born in Antwerp on 2 December 1612 and was baptized in the
St. James' Church on the same date. He was the second of three children of
David Rijckaert II and Katelijne de Meere (or Catharina de Merre). As the only son, he was named after his father. A member of the
Ryckaert (or Rijckaert) family of artists, he was the grandson of David Rijckaert I and the nephew of
Marten Ryckaert. He had an uncle called Pauwels who was also a painter, but of whom no known works exist. It was earlier believed that his father was a painter of landscapes and
genre scenes. This view changed when in 1995 Christie's auctioned a painting referred to as
Still life with shells with a nautilus, vases, glasses and Chinese porcelain, which was signed and dated 'DAVIDT.RYCKAERTS. / .1616.' The art historian Fred Meijer was able to attribute this work to David Rijckaert II. This led to the attribution to David Rijckaert II of more still life works. David Ryckaert III was a pupil of his father. He became master of the
Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in 1636-37 and was registered as a 'wijnmeester', i.e. the son of a master. He held the position of dean of the Guild in 1652–53. He was one of the many Antwerp artists who were invited to work on the decorations for the
Joyous Entry into Antwerp of the new governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635.
Rubens was in overall charge of this project. Ryckaert was tasked to paint together with Antwerp painter
Jan van Eyck the final triumphal arch for the event. The painting was an allegorical representation of the glorification of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand. He was the teacher of Hans la Croys, Jacob Lafosse II and
Erasmus de Bie. ==Work==