Bruegel, Brueghel, or Breughel

   A family that included several renowned Flemish genre and landscape painters, its foremost member was Pieter Bruegel, the Elder (ca. 1525-1569). Bruegel visited Italy in the early 1550s. Known as "Peasant Bruegel," he settled in Brussels in 1563. A learned city resident and the companion of humanists, Bruegel employed his powers of minute observation to depict the morals and lifestyle of peasants in the villages and rural locales of Brabant. His paintings are known for their delicate line and sensitive color. Bruegel is believed to have lived at rue Haute 132, where he died on 5 September 1569.

   His sons Pieter Bruegel the Younger (1564-1637), who copied many of his father's works, and Jan Bruegel (1568-1625), called "Velvet Bruegel," were born in the city.