B R E 



Srnt </<- MaJo-af.jr, in Ornithology, nrmes given by 

 B..ffDii to dilltrcntVarietksof CoRVus Brachvurus. 



Hrkvf, i>H. Sec Vas ir/-i'C. 



BIUIVLN, ill Gcogriipby, a mountain of SwinTerland, 

 fituitc on o;ie lidc of tlie vailty of Chamouny, and oppofite 

 n) the placicre. The licight above tlii MLditcrrancan is 

 eUiinitcd at ft:58 feet. 



DRF.VET, in the Vrnuh Laws, denotes an aft ilTued 

 by a f-cietary of Hate, iinportn.fr a grant of fomc tavour or 

 donation from the kin;. Tlie word is formed from the 

 middle age Latin, hrevctlmu, of hreve,Jhnrt. In which fciife 

 brevet amounts to iiiucii the fame with our war a ant. 

 They fay a brevet of nomination, a dulic by hvevct ; luch a 

 ptrfon liad a br>jvel of a marflial of France. 



Br t VET more particularly dmotts the commifnon of a 

 fiiballern officer, being only written on parchment, and 

 without feal. A brtvet-ofliccr is one whofc rani; is above 

 his pay ; «. g. a brevet-major ferves only as a captain, and 

 receives pay as fuch. Hence, a fubaltern, who obtains rank 

 by brevet is under a neceflity of difcharging the additional 

 fxpences of his new di^'iiity, together with the fees of 

 his new commilfion, without additional pay. 



Brevft, m \}!\t Sta Language, is fometimes ufed for a 

 BILL of loading. 



BREUGHEL, or Brueghet-, Peter, in Biography, 

 commonly called Old Breughel, in contradillinction to his fon, 

 Rij eminent painter and engraver, was born at Breughel, 

 a village near Breda in 15 lo, and acquired the tirlt principles 

 of his art from Peter Cock or Koeck-van-Aelll, wh.d'e 

 daughter he married. He afterwards travelled in France 

 and Italy ; lludied nature, amidll the mountains of Tyro! 

 and the fcenery of the Alps ; and availed himfelF of tlic 

 Tiorks of the greateft mailers in Italy. On his return from 

 Italy he reiided for fome time at Antwerp, and from thence 

 he removed to Bruffcls. Whilll he was employed by the 

 tnagillrates of this city in taking views of the canal which 

 falls into the Scheldt, he fickencd, and died in 1570; 

 after having caufed to be burned in his prefence all his 

 hcentious and fatirical defigns. He chiefly excelled in 

 landfcapes, and droll fubjefts, rcfembling thofe of Jerom 

 Bofche ; and he was particularly fond of reprefenting the 

 marches of armies, robberies, flvirmilhes, fpoits, dances, 

 weddings, and drunken quarrels ; and in order to acquire 

 greater flcill and accuracy in this kind of reprefentations, 

 Le often affumed the habit of a peafant, and joined the 

 meaner boors at their featls and amufements. His figures 

 were corrcft, and their drapciics well chofen ; the heads and 

 hands were touched with fpirit ; and his expreffion, though 

 not elegant, was true. His principal performance is in the 

 emperor's colkclion at Vienna, which is the " Reprefentation 

 of the building of the tower of Babel, by Nimrod." Several 

 of his paintings are in the cabinets of the emperor and 

 elec\or palatine, a.'d difperfed through various parts of 

 Europe. For his amulemcnt he engraved fome few land- 

 fcapes and grotefque fubjefts. Pilkington and Strutt. 



Breughel, Peter, t\it younger, known by t!ie appel- 

 lation of the *' Hellifh Breughel," from his delight in 

 reprefenting horrible fubjedts, the fon of the preceding 

 artill, v;-i% born at Bruflels, and became the difciple of 

 Gclles Coningiloo. His compofitions rather excite difguft 

 than fatisfaction ; and his human figures, though freely 

 pencilled and not ill coloured, are not much more elegant 

 than thofe of the infernal kind. In his liiftorical fnbjeC^s 

 he generally introduced witches and devils ; Inch as Orpheus 

 charming Pluto and Proferpine to procure the dehverance 

 of Eurydice, furrounded with horrible forms and appear- 

 ances ; Saul and the witch of Endor ; or St. Anthony's 



B R E 



temptatitms. He a'fo was an engraver. He died in \(jj^i. 

 Pilkington and Strutt. 



Bkeuohel, Johm, diftingiiilhed from his mode of drcfj 

 by the appcllr.ti()n of " Velvet Breughel," was the fon of 

 Peter Breughel the Old, and born at BrufTels in 1560. 

 He was inlirucled, probably, by his father, and by other 

 artills ; but, whoever were his indruftors, he acquired an 

 eminence in every art of painting, in colouring, in defigii, 

 and in pencilling, far fuperior to that of his father, and of 

 ail his contemporaries in his flyle. He began with painting 

 flowers and fruit, which he executed with admirable (Ivill ; 

 and then proceeded to landlcapcs, fca-ports, aud markctf , 

 in which he introdured a number of fniall figures, furprif- 

 ingly exadt and coireftly drawn. At Cologne, where he 

 rttidcd for fome time, he gained an extraordinary reputation ; 

 and his piilures were w.'ll known and admired in Italy, in 

 which country he fpent fome time. He died, according tn 

 the moll probable accounts, in 1625. That the indullry of 

 this artift mull have been fingular, iufficiently appears from 

 the number and variety of his piftures, and the exqnilite 

 neainels and delicacy of their execution. It has been 

 lamented, however, by connoilTeurs, that his didances arc 

 overcharged with a bluilli tinge. Breughel often decorated 

 the pictures of his friends with fmall figures, thus greatly 

 enhancing their value ; he was employed in painting flowci-:, 

 fruits, animals, and landlcape fcenery, in the pieces of 

 liillory -paintings ; and in this way Rubens made occafional 

 ufe of his pencil. He fometimes joined this mailer iii 

 larger works, which have been much admired ; and particu- 

 larly in a " Vertiimnub and Pomona," a picture three tect 

 higli and four broad, highly commended by Houbrakcn, 

 and fold at Amderdam for above 2^0!. ilerling ; and 

 " a Terrellrial Paradife," painted for Charles I. king of 

 England. In the gallery of the archiepiicopal palace at 

 Milan, there is an admirable landlcape of Breughel, repre- 

 fenting a defert, in which Giovanna Battilla Crefpi painted 

 the figure of St. Jcrom ; and among a great number 

 preferved in the Ambrofian library in that city, there is an 

 oval pifture of the Virgin, painted by Rubens, which is 

 encompafled by a garland of flowers admirably executed by 

 Breughel. Moil confiderable cabinets pofTefs fpccimens of 

 the art of tliis mailer. Some fmall engravings of land- 

 fcapes &c. are alio afcribed to Breughel. Pilkington and 

 Strutt. 



Beeughel, Abraham, called the A''M/o/;Vjn, was born at 

 Antwerp in 1672 ; and removing to Italy at an early age, he 

 fl-udied with fuch fuccefs, that he acquired a degree of 

 reputation, which made his works much fought for, and 

 highly valued. Nature was his model ; and he reprcfenttd 

 his objefts with elegance and truth, with a warm and natu- 

 ral colouring, and with a broad and free touch ; which 

 indicates a ready and expert hand. The performances of 

 this mailer are clalled among thole of the moll admired 

 artiils. The fortune, acquired by his profeffion, was con- 

 fiderable ; but, he loft the whole of it by the diflionefty of 

 a merchant in whom he confided, and died in confequence of 

 the grief occafioned by this misfortune. Pilkington. 



Breughel, Peter, of Bois le Due, took his degree of 

 doftor in medicine at Padua, and was in fuch efteem with 

 Philip II. king of Spain, that he was by his command ap- 

 pointed profelfor in medicine at the univerfity of Louvain, 

 though, from his frequent attendance on the nobility in the 

 neighbouring provinces, he was not able to perforin the 

 duties ot that office. On his death, w hich happened in the 

 year 1377, he left a fum of money to found a college at 

 Louvain tor fix Undents, who were to be inllrudlcd in the 

 different branches of medicine. The college, which is (liU 

 2 in 



