Frederi(c)k van Valckenborch, born in Antwerp in 1566, emigrated to Frankfurt am Main in 1586 on religious grounds. He probably received his first education from his father Marten I, the landscape painter and brother of Lucas van Valckenborch. From 1590 to 1596 Frederik undertook a trip to Italy together with his brother Gillis I, who was four years his junior. Initially they stayed in Venice, where Frederik was influenced by Italian Flemish artists. The brothers are documented in Rome in 1592. Frederik also stayed at court in Mantua. After his return he was granted the citizenship of Frankfurt in 1597. On his wanderings through Bavaria, Tyrol, the Salzkammergut and the Danube region, he created topographically accurate drawings. In 1602 he moved to Nuremberg, where he carried out commissions for the archdukes Maximilian and Matthias and remained there until his death in 1623. Two of his four sons also became painters.
