87 Portrait of Hendrick van Balen
Black chalk; H: 24. 4 cm i j in.); W: 19.7 cm (y^34 in.)
84.06.9 2
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom right corner,
collection mark of N. A. Flinck (L. 959).
PROVENANCE: N. A. Flinck, Rotterdam; William, sec-
ond duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth; by descent to the
current duke (sale, Christie's, London, July 3, 1984, lot
55).
EXHIBITIONS: Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth,
Arts Council Gallery, London, 1949, no. 25 (catalogue
by A. E. Popham). Paintings and Drawings by Van Dyck,
Nottingham University Art Gallery, February-March
1960 , no. 52 (catalogue by O. Millar). Antoon van Dyck:
Tekeningen en olieverfschetsen, Rubenshuis, Antwerp, and
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, July-
August 1960 and September-November 1960, no. 78
(catalogue by R.-A. d'Hulst and H. Vey). Van Dyck:
Drawings and Etchings from Chatsworth House, East-
bourne, 1978, no. 33.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A.M. Hind, The Vasari Society for the
Reproduction of Drawings by Old Masters, istser. (Oxford,
1908), vol. 4, no. 23; M. Delacre, Recherches sur le role du
dessin dans Vlconographie de Van Dyck, Memoires de 1A-
cademie Royale de Belgique, 2nd ser. (1932), vol. 2, no.
4 , pp. 81- 82; idem, Recherches sur le role du dessin dans Vl-
conographie de Van Dyck. Notes complementaires, Memoires
de TAcademie Royale de Belgique, 2nd ser. (1934), vol.
3 , no. 3, pp. 15-16; H. Vey, Die Zeichnungen Anton Van
Dycks (Brussels, 1962), vol. i, pp. 322-323, no. 257;
C. T. Eisler, Flemish and Dutch Drawings From the i$th to
the i8th Century (New York, 1963), p. 75; J. Kuznetsov,
I disegni del maestri, Capolavori fiamminghi e olandesi
(Milan, 1970), p. 14, fig. 14 ; J. Byam Shaw, "Drawings
from Chatsworth," Apollo 119, no. 268 (June 1984), pp.
458-459.THIS PORTRAIT'S SUBJECT is HENDRICK VAN BALEN
(1575-1632), who lived in Antwerp and was a painter of
religious and mythological themes. He was a friend of
Jan Brueghel and Rubens and achieved considerable suc-
cess. In 1609 van Dyck was his student.
The drawing is a study for a print of the same size
and in reverse, executed by Paulus Pontius in the series
of engravings and etchings of famous statesmen, schol-
ars, and painters designed by van Dyck and known as his
Iconography? This ambitious project was conceived dur-
ing his years in Antwerp between 1627 and 1635. The
drawing must therefore date from the period between
1627 and van Balen's death five years later. It is among
the most affecting and successful of the drawings for the
Iconography, showing great sensitivity in the diversity of
chalk strokes and a striking directness of vision in the
characterization of van Balen. He is presented with his
hand on the head of an antique statue, a motif that is more
developed in the print. It has been noted by d'Hulst and
Vey (1960, no. 78) that the fourth state of the print bears
an inscription, Pictor Antv.Humanarum Figurarum Vetu-
statis Cultor, that attests to van Balen's respect for antiq-
uity. The print also contains a classical column behind the
sitter. Copies of the drawing are in the Louvre, Paris (inv.
19.932), and the Teylers Museum, Haarlem.^2 Grisaille oil
sketches based on it are in the collection of the duke of
Buccleuch, Drumlanrig Castle, and in an American pri-
vate collection (formerly Schaeffer Gallery, New York).^3- M. Mauquoy-Hendrickx, L'Iconographie d'Antoine Van
Dyck, Academic Royale de Belgique, Memoire 9 (Brussels,
1956), no. 42. - H. J. Scholten, Musee Teyler a Haarlem: Catalogue raisonne des
dessins des ecoles fran^aise et hollandaise (Haarlem, 1904), album
O*, 19. - Other drawings by van Dyck for his Iconography have been
catalogued by Vey (1962, nos. 242-281).
196 FLEMISH SCHOOL • VAN DYCK