Brueghel

Family of Flemish painters. Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. 1525–1569) was one of the greatest artists of his time. His pictures of peasant life helped to establish genre painting, and he also popularized works illustrating proverbs, such as The Blind Leading the Blind (1568; Museo di Capodimonte, Naples). A contemporary taste for the macabre can be seen in The Triumph of Death (1562; Prado, Madrid), which clearly shows the influence of Hieronymus Bosch. One of his best-known works is Hunters in the Snow (1565; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

The elder Pieter was nicknamed ‘Peasant’ Brueghel, referring to the subjects of his paintings. Two of his sons were also painters. Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1638), called ‘Hell’ Brueghel, specialized in religious subjects, and another son, Jan Brueghel (1568–1625), called ‘Velvet’ Brueghel, painted flowers, landscapes, and seascapes.