Jan van Balen (1611 – 1654)
• Was a Flemish painter.
• Jan van Balen was the son of Hendrick van Balen and Margriet Briers.
• Jan van Balen had two brothers, Gaspard and Hendrik who were both painters.
• Jan was the teacher of his two younger brothers.
• His sister Maria married the painter Theodoor van Thulden.
• Jan van Balen trained with his father.
• He was registered at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an apprentice in 1631 and as a master in 1639–1640.
• Jan van Balen collaborated with his brother Gaspard, Theodoor van Thulden, Jan de Labare and Erasmus Quellinus the Younger on the execution of designs for the gallery on the Meir and the triumphal arch at St. John's Church in Antwerp.
• The design of the decorations was under the direction of Rubens.
• Jan van Balen left during 1639 with his brother Gaspard on a trip to Italy.
• The two brothers worked in Rome where Gaspard died on 7 March 1641.
• Jan then returned to Antwerp where he married Joanna van Weerden on 31 May 1642.
• Jan van Balen died in Antwerp in 1654.
