Cornelis van Dalem (1530/35 probably in Antwerp - 1573 or 1576) was a Flemish painter in Antwerp. His father was a wealthy Dutch-born merchant who provided him with a good education in the liberal arts.[1] He remained a merchant for his entire life, painting only as an amateur. Nevertheless his paintings were greatly esteemed; Peter Paul Rubens owned one of his works, and another is featured in The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest.[1]
In 1543 he became a pupil of the obscure artist Jan Adriaensens. He became a master in the guild of painters in 1556, and in the same year married Beatrix van Liedekercke, a member of a wealthy family.[1] Dalem and his wife, whom accounts suggest were protestants, had to leave Amsterdam for Breda in 1565 .[1]
Dalem limited himself to landscape painting; where figures in his paintings are present they were added by other artists.[1] One of his students was Bartholomäus Spranger, who studied under him from 1560-64.
He was possibly the father of Cornelis Cornelisz Dalem, and was the brother of Lodewijk van Dalem, also an artist.