(Brussels 1568–1625 Antwerp) and(Antwerp 1575–1632)
Venus and Adonis,
oil on copper, 49.7 x 69.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz, who examined the present painting in the original, for endorsing its authenticity. A certificate is available (15th August 2016).

Ertz writes: “The present painting, which in my opinion dates from the period around 1620, is preserved in good condition. What speaks in favour of this time of execution, besides the delicately painted landscape and the detailed flowers in the foreground, is above all the style of the figure painter, who in his early period modelled his figures after the slender type used by Hans Rottenhammer, whereas from the 1620s onwards they were rather reminiscent of the more voluminous type employed by Peter Paul Rubens, the artist’s role model. In the first half of the 17th century it was an entirely common and even typical habit in Flemish painting for two painters specialized in different genres to team up, thereby creating compositions that seem amazingly homogeneous today. The ‘prime pairing’ consisted of Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, followed by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hendrick van Balen, who mostly collaborated for mythological compositions.”

In the present picture, Jan Brueghel I painted the landscape, the animals, and the plants, while the figures were added by Hendrick van Balen.

Hendrick van Balen, the author of the figures in this picture, was one of the foremost historical painters of his time. After his training with Adam van Noort, he became Master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1592/1593. Shortly afterwards he appears to have made an extended tour of Italy. After his return to Antwerp he founded a studio, which quickly became one of the most successful and important ateliers in the city. Anthony van Dyck and Frans Snyders, amongst others, can be numbered among his 26 documented students. The landscapes of his colleagues, such as Jan Brueghel I, and II, G. van Coninxloo, F. Francken II, A. Grimmer, J. van Kessel, J. de Momper, F. Snyders, J. Tilens, L. van Uden, S. Vrancx and J. Wildens, were enlivened by Balen’s small, elegant figures and scenes. These contrast the religious works of the artist’s maturity, which are characterised by monumental and imposing figures. However, he principally produced small decorative paintings, usually on wood or copper. In these, the carefully considered compositions and luminous palette betray the influence of his German contemporary Johann Rottenhammer.