Frederik van Valckenborch

Frederik van Valckenborch (1566 in Antwerp – 1623 in Nuremberg) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his imaginary landscapes with figures executed in a late Mannerist style. His drawings are more realistic and demonstrate an impulse towards topographical accuracy. He was active mainly in Germany. Fourteen known painters are recorded in the family history. Of these, Frederik's father Marten van Valckenborch (1535–1612), his brother Gillis van Valckenborch and his uncle Lucas van Valckenborch achieved notable fame. The van Valckenborch family was particularly known in the Spanish Netherlands for landscape painting.

Frederik van Valckenborch received his earliest training in Antwerp. It is believed that his first teacher was his father. He may, in addition, have trained with an Antwerp figure painter. Two of his drawings, The Deluge (1588) and Moses Drawing Water from the Rocks (1589), have figures that do not bear any resemblance to his father's works. It has been deduced from this fact that although Frederik learned landscape painting from his father, he was taught figure painting by another teacher, possibly Jacob de Backer. The van Valckenborchs thrived in their new home town, quickly establishing themselves as authorities in the arts. They had an important influence on the artistic developments in Frankfurt am Main.

Frederik moved to Nuremberg in 1602. Here he received in 1607 a commission from Archduke Maximilian to make a copy of Albrecht Dürer’s Assumption of the Virgin. It took him six months to complete the commission in which he was assisted by the local painter Paul Juvenel.

In his drawings van Valckenborck shows an interest in the realistic rendering of nature, something which is generally absent from his paintings. In his quest for topographical accuracy he created drawings with a clear and simple layout in contrast with his complex paintings.