Mathias or Matthijs Jansz. Balen (October 1, 1611 in Dordrecht

Dordrecht

Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...

; d. 1691) was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 historian.

Biography

He first distinguished himself as a poet, but afterwards applied himself to historical researches, and in 1677 published a description of Dordrecht in two volumes, which is full of valuable matter. He died shortly after its publication. In his book, he lists most of the regents of the various guilds and other organizations in the town, including local painters and poets, among them Margaretha van Godewijk

Margaretha van Godewijk

Margaretha van Godewijk , was a Dutch Golden Age poet and painter.-Biography:According to Houbraken her father was a teacher at the Latin school in Dordrecht who taught her Greek, Latin, Italian, French and English. She could understand Hebrew, was clever at making rhymes...

, who wrote a poem for his book. In his book he also lists important paintings in the city hall and other city structures by painters such as Anthonie van Montfoort

Anthonie van Montfoort

Anthonie Blocklandt van Montfoort, Anthonie van Blocklandt or Anthonie van Montfoort was a Dutch painter-Life:...

, Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, and others

He was probably the father or grandfather of Matthijs Balen

Matthijs Balen

Matthijs Balen , was an 18th century painter from the Northern Netherlands.-Biography:According to the RKD he was a registered pupil of Arnold Houbraken, and like him, became a printmaker as well as a painter...

, who became a registered pupil of Arnold Houbraken.