Matthijs Balen

{{short description|Dutch painter}}

Matthijs Balen (1684 in Dordrecht – 1766 in Dordrecht) was an 18th-century painter from the Dutch Republic.

According to the RKD he was a registered pupil of Arnold Houbraken, and like him, became a printmaker as well as a painter. He lived in The Hague from 1705–1715 and is known for Italianate landscapes, portraits, and historical allegories.[https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/4020 Matthijs Balen] in the RKD

He was probably the son or grandson of the Dordrecht writer Mathias Balen, who wrote Beschryvinge der stad Dordrecht in 1677. Houbraken himself had been a pupil of Samuel van Hoogstraten and was friends with Romeyn de Hooghe, both of whom assisted the elder Balen with some poems and etchings for his book.