Marten van Cleve

[2][3] 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.

His subjects and compositions were an important influence on the work of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and other genre painters of his generation.

[5] 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.

[9] Marten van Cleve was principally a genre painter, who specialized in peasant scenes and landscapes.

[6] Even the attributions by Dr. Klaus Ertz in his catalogue raisonné of Marten van Cleve's paintings and drawings published in 2014 have been questioned.

[10][6] His oldest authenticated work is the Farm interior with important visitors (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), which was included in the 1659 inventory of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria.

The work, which is probably dated to around 1555–1560, shows the influence of Frans Floris in its fluid brush stroke.

Unlike Aertsen, van Cleve's treatment of space is more modern and his work is free of the influence of the Mannerism of the Flemish Romanists who were inspired by contemporary Italian art.

[2] Another confirmed authentic work is the Slaughtered ox (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), which is monogrammed with 'M(v)G' in ligature and dated 1566.

It is possible that the bubble-blowing boy is a reference to the homo bulla motive, the idea that life is just a bubble that only lasts a very short time.

The dead ox itself is a reminder of death and is thus linked to the 'memento mori' idea, the notion that humans should remember that they are mortal.

[12] 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.

[6] Van Cleve developed a number of new themes such as the King Drinks, the original of which is probably the painting sold at Kunsthandel Abels, Cologne in 1965.