Marten van Cleve the Elder 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. Marten van Cleve was one of the leading Flemish artists of his generation. His subjects and compositions were an important influence on the work of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and other genre painters of his generation.
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. There is no evidence for this apprenticeship. Some stylistic similarities with Frans Floris' works that appear in van Cleve's early work and the engravings after his inventions make the apprenticeship plausible. Van Mander also stated that van Cleve did not follow the 16th century trend of Flemish painters to study in Italy. This may explain why van Cleve's work does not show the influence of Italian Mannerism with its unrealistic deformations. Marten van Cleve became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1551.
Marten van Cleve married Maria de Greve on 7 January 1556. The couple had four sons named Gillis, Marten (called 'Marten the Younger), Joris and Nicolaas who all became painters. Marten van Cleve had five registered pupils, one of whom became a master. One of his pupils may have been Hans Jordaens.
Between 1560 and 1570 Marten van Cleve operated an important workshop with a large output. The majority of the works were copies of Marten's original inventions. It is probable that his own sons also assisted in his studio. Van Cleve was a regular collaborator with a number of prominent landscape painters.
Marten van Cleve Marten died in 1581, at which time he was suffering from gout and rheumatism.
