Hendrick van Balen

Hendrick van Balen painted small, finely finished mythologies and allegories, often on copper, with graceful nudes, gods and nymphs in lush landscapes. He frequently worked with other Antwerp painters, adding his figures to landscapes or flower garlands by Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Born in Antwerp, he trained with Adam van Noort and travelled in Italy before returning home around 1602. He became dean of the painters’ guild, ran a busy workshop for over thirty years and taught Anthony van Dyck and Frans Snyders. He collaborated with Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

His garland of fruit around Cybele, painted with Brueghel, is in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. In works like Diana Resting after the Hunt, look at the smooth figures and the gleam of the copper surface.