Jan van den Eynde

Infobox person name = Jan van den Eynde image = caption = birth_date = Late 16th century or early 17th century birth_place = Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands death_date = 1674 death_place = Naples, Italy spouse = Elisabetta Salvatori Caterina van den Eynde-Mastrilli Attaining wealth and status in Naples, his son Ferdinand was admitted to the local aristocracy as the first Marquess of Castelnuovo. while another granddaughter Giovanna became Princess of Galatro and Sonnino.

Early life and family Van den Eynde was born in Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands, into a wealthy family of merchants, artists and art dealers possibly tied to the local nobility. The family had close family links with notable Antwerp artist families such as the Brueghel family, the de Jode family and Lucas and Cornelis de Wael.

Move to Italy

In the early seventeenth century Jan and his brother Ferdinand left Antwerp for Italy. It is not known whether they travelled there together or at different times. Ferdinand is reported in Venice as early as the second decade of the 17th century.

Between 1633 and 1640, a remarkable epitaph to Jan's brother Ferdinand was completed in Rome by the Flemish sculptor François Duquesnoy. The putti included in this funerary monument are considered one of Duquesnoy's greatest achievements. Both Giovanni Battista Passeri and Giovanni Pietro Bellori highlighted the fame of these putti, which served as models for contemporary artists. Two days before his death, Ferdinand made his will, bequeathing his art collection to his brother Jan.

Jan van den Eynde became exceedingly rich. Van den Eynde filled the palace with a colossal collection of paintings, by artist such as Leonard Bramer, Giacinto Brandi, Jan van Boeckhorst, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Paul Bril, Viviano Codazzi, Aniello Falcone, Guercino, David de Haen, Pieter van Laer, Jan Miel, Cornelius van Poelenburch, Cornelis Schut, Goffredo Wals, Bartolomeo Passante, Mattia Preti, Pieter Paul Rubens, Carlo Saraceni, Massimo Stanzione, Van Dyck, Simon Vouet, Pieter de Witte and many others. Jan van den Eynde did not only become one of the richest men in Naples, but also one of the most prominent figures in the Italian city, developing strong ties with the Italian nobility and a close relationship with the viceroys. He died in Naples in 1674, the same year in which his son Ferdinand passed away. and Filippo di Gennaro, with the same conditions: that the family name Van den Eynde be appended and the bequest neither sold nor given away. Both marriages produced offspring, and both heirs added Van den Eynde to their name.

Van den Eynde's son Ferdinand (for whom, as mentioned, he purchased a peerage title) married Olimpia Piccolomini, niece of Cardinal Celio Piccolomini. He restored the Van den Eynde's Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, widened its art collection, and built the Villa Carafa of Belvedere in Vomero. Ferdinand had two daughters, Elisabeth and Giovanna, who married the heirs of two of the most powerful Italian families, the Colonna and the Carafa. Both marriages produced offspring.