Paulus Bril (1554-1626) was a painter of landscapes, engraver and miniaturist. Born in Antwerp he was active in Rome most of his life, moving there with his brother Matthijs in around 1575. Bril established a painting school in Rome and through his pupil Tassi was, indirectly, the master of Claude Lorrain. He worked for all the popes of the time. His greatest accomplishment is as one of the first artists to paint mainly landscapes. He added some Italian character to the strong Flemish landscape style. He was seduced by the Italian light and in this way he prepared the landscapes of Claude Lorrain. Many of his landscape paintings survive, their designs were widely known via the engravings and etchings made by Nieulandt and Sadeler.No Flemish work by him is known.
