VALCKENBORCH, Marten van I - b. 1534 Leuven, d. 1612 Frankfurt am Main

Flemish painter, part of a family of artists active in Germany. He joined the Guild of St Luke in Mechelen on 13 August 1559 and on 3 December 1563 was recorded as having a pupil named Gysbrecht Jaspers. In 1564 Marten went to Antwerp, where he taught his brother Geraard van Valckenborch until 1568.

In 1573 Marten became a citizen of Aachen but returned to Antwerp c. 1575-76 and in 1584 is mentioned as an ouderman (elder) in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. For the final period of their lives, after an existence disrupted by war and religious persecution, the brothers Marten I and Lucas van Valckenborch were united in Frankfurt am Main, where they ran a flourishing workshop. On 7 July 1586 Marten became a citizen of Frankfurt, the same time as his son-in-law, Hendrick van Steenwijk the Elder.