Hendrick van Balen entered the St. Luke's Guild in Antwerp in 1592. Sometime before 1602 he apparently made a trip to Italy, where he probably met the German painter Hans Rottenhammer. Back in Antwerp, he married in 1605 and became a respected artist. He owned a large house and served as dean of the guild in 1609-10. Around 1613 he traveled on a diplomatic mission to the northern Netherlands in the company of Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder. Van Balen's studio was one of the largest in Antwerp, and among his many pupils were Anthony van Dyck and Frans Snyders. Van Balen frequently worked together with Jan Brueghel the Elder.