 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.