Marten van Cleve

Marten van Cleve the Elder (Antwerp, c. 1527 – Antwerp, before 24 November 1581) was a Flemish painter and draftsman active in Antwerp between 1551 and 1581. Van Cleve is mainly known for his genre scenes with peasants and landscapes, which show a certain resemblance with the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Life Details about the life of Marten van Cleve are scarce. He was born in Antwerp as the son of Willem van Cleve the Elder who had become a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1518. Based on his own declaration in a document dated 2 April 1567 that he was then 40 years of age, it is assumed van Cleve was born in 1526 or 1527. Marten's elder brother Hendrick van Cleve III and his younger brother Willem van Cleve the Younger were both painters.

Marten van Cleve first studied under his father. According to the early Flemish biographer Karel van Mander Marten van Cleve studied under Frans Floris, the leading Flemish history painter in the mid 16th century. Marten van Cleve became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1551.

Work Marten van Cleve was principally a genre painter, who specialized in peasant scenes and landscapes. Only about five of his works are signed and properly documented. Van Cleve attempted to correct or modernize Bruegel by a higher level of interest in realism. Together with the Carnival in a village with beggars dancing dated 1579 (Hermitage Museum), the Slaughtered ox shows that van Cleve preferred a broad and free brushstroke. In the Carnival in a village with beggars dancing van Cleve has also used various motifs from Pieter Bruegel the Elder's works. Prominent engravers such as the Wierix brothers, Hans Bol, Philip Fruytiers, Johann Sadeler, Balthazar van den Bos and Philip Galle engraved the prints after van Cleve's designs.