BREUGEL (Peter), an eminent painter, commonly called Old Breugel, to distinguish him from his son, was born at a village of the same name near Breda, in the year 1565; and was the first pupil of Peter Cock, whose daughter he married. It was customary with him to dress like a country-man, in order to be more easily admitted into the company of country-people, and be allowed to join in their frolics, by which means he became perfectly acquainted with their manners and gestures, of which he made excellent use in his pictures. He travelled to France and Italy, and for a long time studied landscapes on the mountains of Tyrol. His humorous turn of mind displayed itself in all his pictures, which generally consisted of country-dances, marriages, sports, and diversions; though he sometimes performed pieces from the historical parts of the holy Scriptures. At his return from Italy, he settled at Antwerp, and in his last illness caused his wife to gather together all his immodest pieces and burn them before his face. He died at Antwerp about the year 1570. Of the works of old Breugel, the great duke of Tuscany has, Christ carrying his cross, with a great number of figures; and a country feast. The emperor has the tower of Babel, the massacre of the Innocents, and the conversion of St Paul, of his painting: the elector Palatine, a landscape, with St Philip baptizing queen Candace's eunuch; and St John preaching in the wilderness, with a great many figures. Old Breugel also, for his amusement, is said to have engraved some few plates of landscapes and grotesque subjects.