Pieter Bruegel the Elder (sometimes spelled Brueghel, but the H was dropped in a 1559 name change) is considered the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century. His life as an artist began as an apprentice to sculptor Pieter Coecke van Aelst in Antwerp. Although this is initially where Bruegel began his work, Coecke van Aelst's influence isn't seen until after Bruegel married his daughter, Mayken, in 1563.
Bruegel's style developed on an artist's journey through France and Italy. The incredible country-side inspired him to produce paintings in the traditional Flemmish landscape style. However, after witnessing his mentor's wife, Maria Verhulst, paint alligorical peasant scenes, Bruegel began to focus more on satirical, didactic and moral-based paintings*. What set his work apart from other moralizing artists, however, was that he included these human scenes within a more complex, developed landscape.
In his later work, the style is more Italiannate than traditional Flemmish, as Bruegel began to focus more on the human form. We can see this as people take a more centralized role in his paintings.
Bruegel passed away in 1569 at the young age of 44. However, his two sons, Jan and Pieter the Younger,who kept the original spelling of their last name, carried on the painting tradition. This lead to a Brueghel family dynasty in the art world.
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/bio/b/bruegel/pieter_e/biograph.htm