Large copper measuring 90 x 70 cm. Framed measurements 102 x 85 cm. Antwerp h. 1574 / 1575 1632 . Trained in Italy where he remained until 1600 1602 visiting Rome and Venice. No works are known from his Italian period although his early paintings show great relation to the compositions of Annibale Carracci and Palma the Younger. The Venetian influence can be seen in the clearly Mannerist positions of his figures as well as in the female nudes. Despite creating at the beginning of his career altar paintings where the powerful Romanization inherited from Noort can be observed Van Balen would evolve towards a greater colorful decorativeism closer to the influence of Anton van Dyck who is suspected to have passed through his studio around 1609. Initially he collaborated with painters such as Abel Grimmer for whose View of Antwerp Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunste Antwerp . he painted the figures. However it is in cabinet painting that he achieved greatest success with a decided emphasis on themes such as the four elements the banquet of the gods and similar representations that allowed beautiful nudes to be placed in paradisiacal natural environments. A frequent collaborator of Jan Brueghel the Elder there are numerous works carried out jointly by both artists in which Brueghel provided the flower garlands and Van Balen the figures; one of the best examples of this pictorial association is Ceres with the Four Elements Pinacoteca Ambrosiana Milan . . Bibliography: Jost I. ?Hendrik van Balen der ?ltere? Nederlands Kunsthistorisches Jaarboek vol. XIV The Hague 1963 pp. 83 128.