Jan van den Eynde or Vandeneynden (late 16th century or early 17th century – 1674) was a prominent Netherlandish merchant, banker, art collector, and patron of the arts. He was brother to Flemish merchant, art collector and art dealer Ferdinand van den Eynde, and father of the latter's namesake Ferdinand van den Eynde, Marquess of Castelnuovo. Van den Eynde's granddaughters were Elisabeth van den Eynde, Princess of Belvedere and Baroness of Gallicchio and Missanello, and Jane (Giovanna) van den Eynde, 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 Van den Eynde were related to several notable Netherlandish artists, including Brueghel, Jode, and Lucas and Cornelis de Wael. Lucas and Cornelis de Wael were Ferdinand van den Eynde's nephews. Move to Italy In the early seventeenth century, at least two Van den Eyndes moved to Italy. Jan and his brother Ferdinand departed from Flanders either together or at different times. Ferdinand reportedly was active in Venice since as early as the second decade of the 17th century. He later resettled in Genoa, ca. 1619, before moving to Southern Italy. Jan, on the other hand, first appears in Naples, as he did not follow his brother, neither in Venice nor in Genoa. Between 1633 and 1640, a remarkable epitaph to Jan's brother Ferdinand was completed in Rome by 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 stressed the fame of the Van den Eynde's putti, which served as models of the infant putto for contemporary artists. Other notable artists praised the Van den Eynde's putti. Among them are Johann Joachim Winckelmann (generally a harsh critic of Baroque sculpture) and Peter Paul Rubens, who requested a copy of them and commented "I do not know how [...] can I praise their beauty properly. It is nature, rather than art, that has formed them; the marble is softened into living flesh." Ferdinand died prematurely in Rome in 1630, and was buried in Santa Maria dell'Anima. His nephew Cornelis de Wael was buried next to him. Two days before his death, Ferdinand made his will, bequeathing his art collection to his brother Jan. In Naples, Jan established himself as a dealer in