(b Antwerp, c.1575; d Antwerp, 17 July 1632). Flemish Mannerist painter, active mainly in Antwerp (he spent virtually all his life there apart from a sojourn in Italy in the 1590s). His speciality was mythological scenes painted in the highly finished manner of Jan Brueghel, one of the numerous artists with whom he collaborated. Van Balen was a popular teacher, his most important pupil being van Dyck. He also had three painter sons.
Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)
