Clerck was a Flemish painter. He spent the greater part of his successful career in Brussels. He was the pupil of Marten de Vos and carried the Mannerist tradition far into the 17th century. In 1606 he was appointed Court Painter to Archduke Albert. He was primarily a painter of altarpieces and a characteristic example of his style is the Family of the Virgin (Musées Royaux, Brussels. 1590), with its Italianate figures clad in restless draperies and placed in a coldly classical building. //