Giovanna van den Eynde

Family

She was born into the Van den Eynde family, a powerful and influential Neapolitan noble family of Flemish origin. Her father was Ferdinand van den Eynde, 1st Marquess of Castelnuovo, the son of Jan van den Eynde, a wealthy merchant from Antwerp who became one of the richest and most prominent men in Naples. The Marquess Ferdinand married Olimpia Piccolomini, of the House of Piccolomini, a nephew of Cardinal Celio Piccolomini, by whom he had three daughters, Catherine, the eldest, Giovanna, the secondborn, and Elizabeth. Jan van den Eynde was also the owner of the largest collection of paintings in Naples, which was bequeathed to his son upon his death. In 1674, the Marquess Ferdinand also inherited a sizable collection of 70 or 90 However, Marquess Ferdinand died that same year, Luca Giordano, another longtime friend of Van den Eynde, took care himself of the inventory for Van den Eynde's inheritance. and acquired the title of Marquess of Castelnuovo, as well as the opulent Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano. They had the following progeny:

Ferdinando Colonna, 2nd Prince of Sonnino, 3rd Marquess of Castelnuovo

Girolamo Colonna, Knight of Malta

Filippo Colonna

Clelia

Virginia

Lorenzo