Bril, Paul

Bril, Paul (c.1554–1626). Flemish landscape painter, active mainly in Rome, where he is first documented in 1582. Early in his career he specialized in large decorative pictures, including frescos, but he turned increasingly to small easel paintings and it is on these that his fame now rests. He lived long enough to assimilate some of the qualities of Elsheimer's and Annibale Carracci's landscapes and his work forms a transition between the fantastic, highly detailed 16th-century Flemish Mannerist style and the more idealized, atmospheric Italian landscapes of the 17th century. He also made views of Rome for the tourist trade, and marine pictures. His conception of both these types of subject influenced Agostino Tassi, Claude's teacher, and Claude himself. Paul's brother, Matthew or Mattheus (1550–83), also worked successfully in Rome, and their work is hard to differentiate.