(Antwerp 1575–1632)
Diana and Actaeon,
oil on copper, 37.8 x 51.7 cm, framed

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the attribution of the present painting to Hendrick van Balen. A written certificate (August 2020) is available.

Hendrik van Balen the Elder played an important role in the renewal of Flemish painting in the early seventeenth century. After training with Adam van Noort he became a master in the Antwerp’s Guild of Saint Luke around 1592. During a trip he took to Italy between 1595 and 1600 he, like many of his Flemish compatriots, became heavily influenced by Italian art. From 1602 onwards he is recorded regularly in Antwerp, especially as a teacher. For thirty years he ran a successful studio, counting among his pupils Anthony van Dyck and Frans Snyders. In his early years he painted numerous large altarpieces, but van Balen is best known for his cabinet-size pictures.

Ertz writes: ‘The painting of the same title that served as an inspiration for the work assessed here was painted by Hans Rottenhammer, whom van Balen met in Italy und who became his great role model, in 1602. When a composition was revisited and personally reinterpreted by a colleague, it was always a sign of respect for the model in question […]. The marvellous female figures reminiscent of Rottenhammer, standing out against the dark backdrop with the light-coloured complexions of their naked bodies, speak in favour the artist’s early maturity. The narrative proper, the story of Diana and Actaeon, has been shifted to the background. Although Hendrick van Balen mostly painted smaller Christian, mythological, and allegorical figures, which he frequently added to the landscapes of colleagues like Jan Brueghel the Elder, several exceptions, most of them dominated by female figures in the nude that also give the work its title, are known.’