Maelwael grows up in the direct environs of the court of Gelre. He comes from a family of painters: his father Willem and his uncle were painters. Moreover, "Maelwael" means: "he who paints well". In the literature, the French form, Jean Malouel, often turns up. Via the French court in Paris he comes into contact with the Burgundian Duke, Philip the Bold, the brother of the French king, who immediately takes him into service as court painter and appoints him valet de chambre.