Marten van Cleve was born into a family of artists in Antwerp. Karel van Mander, author of the famous "Schilderboek", records that he was taught by Frans Floris and adds that unlike his brother Hendrick he did not travel to Italy. Van Cleve became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1551, in the same year as Pieter Brueghel the Elder, and married Maria de Greve five years later. She bore him four sons, all of whom also became painters.

Several art historians have attributed van Cleve's specialization in genre scenes to the fact that he never traveled to Italy. He obviously specialized in figures, and was often commissioned to add staffage to the landscapes of his Antwerp colleagues. His figur...