She was the daughter of Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1500-after 1563), a prominent Mannerist painter in Antwerp who had studied in Italy.
 Her father is believed to have been her teacher and she likely collaborated with him on many of his paintings She became a master in the Guild of St. Luke and was the teacher of three students.

Van Hemessen was a successful painter in her lifetime.
 She gained an important patron in the 1540s in the person of Maria of Austria, who served as regent of the Low Countries on behalf of her brother Charles V. In 1554, van Hemessen married Christian de Morien, an organist at the Antwerp Cathedral, which was an important position at that time.
In 1556, when Maria of Austria returned to Spain, Catharina and her husband moved there, at the invitation of her patron.
Two years later, when Maria died, Catharina was given a sizeable pension for life.
Catharina and her husband returned to Antwerp where they are recorded in 1561.
 At that time the couple was childless.
 Her husband received an appointment to work in 's-Hertogenbosch and the couple moved there around 1565.

In her lifetime she was mentioned by two Italian artist biographers, Lodovico Guicciardini in his Description of the Low Countries of 1567 and Giorgio Vasari in his Vite of 1568.
She was the daughter of Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1500-after 1563), a prominent Mannerist painter in Antwerp who had studied in Italy.  Her father is believed to have been her teacher and she likely collaborated with him on many of his paintings She became a master in the Guild of St. Luke and was the teacher of three students.
Van Hemessen was a successful painter in her lifetime.  She gained an important patron in the 1540s in the person of Maria of Austria, who served as regent of the Low Countries on behalf of her brother Charles V. In 1554, van Hemessen married Christian de Morien, an organist at the Antwerp Cathedral, which was an important position at that time. In 1556, when Maria of Austria returned to Spain, Catharina and her husband moved there, at the invitation of her patron. Two years later, when Maria died, Catharina was given a sizeable pension for life. Catharina and her husband returned to Antwerp where they are recorded in 1561.  At that time the couple was childless.  Her husband received an appointment to work in 's-Hertogenbosch and the couple moved there around 1565.
In her lifetime she was mentioned by two Italian artist biographers, Lodovico Guicciardini in his Description of the Low Countries of 1567 and Giorgio Vasari in his Vite of 1568.
Catharina van Hemessen