Marten van Valckenborch

Marten van Valckenborch or Marten van Valckenborch the Elder (1535 in Leuven – 1612 in Frankfurt), was a Flemish Renaissance painter, mainly known for his landscapes and city scapes. He also made allegorical paintings and some portraits. After commencing his career in the Spanish Netherlands, he later migrated to Frankfurt in Germany where he and other members of his extended family of artists played an important role in local artistic developments.

Marten van Valckenborch was born in Leuven in what would become one of the most prominent Flemish families of artists. Spanning three generations, 14 artists are recorded in the family of whom his younger brother Lucas the Elder and his own sons, Frederik van Valckenborch and Gillis van Valckenborch, were the most important personalities.

Marten joined the Guild of St Luke in Mechelen on 13 August 1559. On 3 December 1563 Gysbrecht Jaspers was recorded as his pupil. The early biographer Karel van Mander reported that Marten van Valckenborch learned to paint landscapes in Mechelen, which was known at the time as a center for oil and water-colours and especially landscape painting. In 1564 Marten moved to Antwerp, where his brother Geraard van Valckenborch trained with him until 1568.

At the start of the iconoclastic fury of the Beeldenstorm in 1566 he left town with his brother Lucas. The brothers made a trip from Liège to Aachen along the Meuse (river), painting river valley views. In 1566 the artist was in Aachen, where he was joined in 1570 by his brother Lucas. In Aachen, the two brothers were also joined for two years by Hans Vredeman de Vries, friend and fellow artist.Hendrik van Steenwijk the Elder also resided in Aachen where he married Marten van Valckenborch's daughter. Marten became a citizen of Aachen in 1573.

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