Pieter Brueghel

Pieter Brueghel studied in Antwerp first as an engraver. In 1551 he set out on a long journey to Italy, making sketches from nature rather than of the monuments which fascinated other artists of his day. He returned to Antwerp and then moved to Brussels in 1563, where his two sons, both later to become artists themselves, were born. Brueghel's paintings of peasant life are full of colour and humour; he also painted landscapes and religious studies, and is regarded as one of the greatest Flemish artists.