Hendrick van Balen

HENDRICK VAN BALEN (Antwerp, ca. 1573 - 1632)
"Allegory of abundance":
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 105 x 135 cm; 149 x 176 cm (frame).
In this piece the author presents us with an allegorical image of abundance, dominated by a pyramidal composition whose figure predominates by its position and by the range of bright tones with which it has been treated in the Goddess Demeter. We can recognize her because she is seated, holding with her left hand the cornucopia of abundance, and with her right hand a spike pointing to a smaller male figure holding a torch. Attribute of the goddess and that represents her incursion into the underworld to rescue her daughter Persephone. Who could be the figure that is located to the left of Demeter as she helps her mother to hold the cornucopia. In addition there is also Hermes, located on the left side, who was sent by Zeus to rescue Persephone from the underworld. Therefore it can be concluded that it is an allegory that represents the abundance of spring.
Because of its formal characteristics, including the compositional structure and types, we can relate this work to the hand of Henrick van Balen, one of the most outstanding representatives of the Flemish school of the early Baroque. Karel van Mander states that he was a disciple of Adam van Noort, although some scholars have pointed to a possible training with Marten de Vos. In any case, we find his name registered as master of the Antwerp painters' guild in 1592. Shortly after this date he must have traveled to Italy, passing through Venice and Rome, as indicated by some indirect sources and, above all, by the evident influences on his art of Annibale Carracci and Palma the Elder. He may also have met in Venice the German Johann Rottenhammer, whose characteristic mythological banquets are an evident influence on Van Balen's work. In any case, we find him already back in Antwerp in 1602, with his own workshop where he already accepted apprentices. He had several children, and one of them, his daughter Maria, had Rubens as godfather and married a collaborator painter of the master, Theodoor van Thulden. Van Balen was appointed dean of the painters' guild in 1610, and three years later he became dean of the Guild of Romanists in Antwerp. As was common at the time, due to the specialization of painters, this artist often collaborated with contemporaries such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, Joos de Momper or Jan Wildens. His workshop enjoyed great importance, counting among his disciples prominent names such as Anton van Dyck and Frans Snyders. Cabinet painter, specialized in figure compositions, van Valen will expand his production to religious painting from 1615, when he began to make commissions for various churches in Antwerp. By then his work had already evolved from the mannerism of his training to a full baroque marked by the influence of Rubens, as can be seen in the "Holy Trinity" that he painted for the Sint-Jacobskerk. Key to his style is also the Venetian influence, as evidenced by his typical mythological scenes, elegantly twisted female figures. Van Balen's works are currently held in important collections around the world, such as the Prado Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery in London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles.