BREUGHEL, bre-1161, the name of a cele brated Dutch family of painters, the first of whom adopted this name from a village not far from Breda. This was Pieter Breughel, also called, from the character and subject of most of his representations, the °Droll° or the °Peasants' Breughel.* He was born in 1510 (according to Mechel, in 1530), was a pupil of Peter Koeck van Aelst, traveled in Italy and France copying the beauties of nature, and after his return fixed his residence at Antwerp, where he was received into the Academy of Painters in that place. He subsequently married the daughter of his instructor, Koeck, and re moved to Brussels, where he died in 1570 (ac cording to some in 1590). In his rural wed dings, his rustic feasts and dances, he strikingly represents the gaiety of the villagers, as he himself had frequently observed them, in dis guise, in his youth. He also etched, but many of his pictures have been engraved by others. His pictures are numerous in Flemish, Dutch and German collections, particularly in that of Mayer van der Bergh in Antwerp and in the Imperial Gallery of Vienna. His masterpiece is said to be °The Blind° in the Museum of Naples. He left two sons — Pieter and Jan. The former (called the Younger Breughel), preferring subjects affording striking contrasts, painted many scenes in which devils, witches or robbers are the principal figures. This par ticular turn of genius procured him the name of *Hell Breughel.o. Among his pieces are 'Orpheus Playing on his Lyre Before the In fernal Deities,' and also 'The Temptation of Saint Anthony) The former picture hangs in the gallery of Florence. The second brother,
Jan, was distinguished by his landscapes and small figures. From his usual dress he received the title of °Velvet Breughel.° He also painted for other masters landscapes as backgrounds to their pieces, and sometimes little figures in them. He was a very prolific artist. In con nection with Rubens he represented Adam and Eve in Paradise. The figures in this picture are painted by Rubens. his piece, his 'Four Elements,' also 'Vertumnus and Pomona,' which were all executed jointly with Rubens, are among his principal performances. He is said to have been born in 1568; other authorities say 1569, 1575 or 1589. The most important of his landscape works hang in the gallery of Madrid; Dresden possesses 17, and Munich an equal number. He visited Italy, and enriched his imagination with beautiful scenery. He is said to have died in 1642, or by other authorities 1625. Other members of this family, belonging to a later period, are Ambrose, who was director of the Antwerp Academy of Painting between 1635 and 1670; and Abraham, who for a time resided in Italy, and died in 1690; the brother of the latter, John Baptist, who died in Rome; and Abraham's son, Caspar Breughel, known as a painter of flowers and fruits.
Rooses, (Gechiednis der Antwerpsche bilderschool' (Antwerp 1887-90) ; Michel, 'Les Breughel' (Paris 1892) for Pieter Breughel the Elder, Van Bastelaer and Hulin (Brussels 1905-07) • Bernard (ib. 1908) ; Hau senstein (Leipzig 1910).