Lot 03

Hendrick van Balen I. (1573 - 1632) DIANA, BACCHUS AND FLORA

Hendrick van Balen is one of the most important representatives of Flemish cabinet painting of the first third of the 17th century. He drew the subjects for his mythological and allegorical scenes from ancient Greek mythology, treating the subject matter freely, independently of classical literature. In this respect, he is considered an iconological innovator. His feasts of the gods, repeated in various variations, are thus charming genre insights into the world of the Olympians rather than faithful illustrations of specific mythological stories. The offered painting is a simplified version in the figurative component, concentrated in the right part of the composition, with a significant share of the landscape component. In keeping with the not uncommon practice of the time, the painting is the result of a collaboration of painting specialists: while the figures were painted by Hendrick van Balen, the landscape setting and still life are the work of Jan Brueghel I (1580 - 1625), also known as Velvet or Flower. The work shows some similarities in motifs with the much richer figurative paintings by both these artists, Diana and Bacchus, held in the Rijksmuseum collection in Amsterdam.