Vermeyen was a painter and tapestry designer, probably a pupil of Jan Gossaert. About 1525 he became court painter to Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, aunt of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at Mechelen and in 1535 he accompanied the Emperor Charles V, the nephew of the Archduchess, at the Conquest of Tunis. He "designed a set of twelve tapestries commemorating scenes from the campaign that would travel with Charles wherever he went, to bear witness to this triumph." The still existing painting of the Hafsid King of Tunis Moulay Hassan, whom Charles re-instated on his throne after ridding the city of the pirate Hayreddin Barbarossa, was painted by Vermeyen while there.
