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| Paul Bril Skeleton hanging from a tree in a landscape ca. 1590-1610 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Paul Bril Wooded ravine with distant harbor-view before 1626 drawing (formerly owned by Everhard Jabach) Morgan Library, New York |
"In the decades before and after 1600, Paul Bril (1553-1626) was the most important Netherlandish artist in Rome. His work was of immense influence on all the artists who painted and drew the landscape in Italy and beyond. During his lifetime Bril was discussed and praised by writers of several nationalities. The young artist set out for Rome in 1574. After a prolonged stay in Lyon, it was probably 1582 before he actually arrived in the city. Bril's older brother Matthijs (1550-1583) had already settled in Rome, where, among other things, he painted frescoes in the Vatican. At first Paul worked with him, but Matthijs died the year after Paul's arrival."
"In addition to frescoes and a large output of paintings, there are dated drawings from every year of Paul's life. . . . Whereas 16th-century Netherlandish artists like Jan Gossaert and Maarten van Heemskerck tended to choose Roman ruins and monuments as subjects for their landscape drawings, Paul Bril produced primarily imaginary landscapes. His early drawings are carefully composed views of coastal, river and mountain landscapes, in which small figures can be seen at work or on the road. The compositions are often framed to left and right by clumps of trees. The viewer's eye is led through various planes with trees and old buildings to a distant prospect. . . . After 1600 Bril's landscapes gradually start to make a less constructed impression; the horizon is lower and they look more natural."
– Peter Schatborn, from the catalogue of a 2001 exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, published in English as Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, translated by Lynne Richards
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| attributed to Paul Bril Landscape with figure before 1626 drawing Princeton University Art Museum |
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| Paul Bril Heroic landscape before 1626 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Paul Bril Landscape with trees at the edge of a pool 1609 drawing British Museum |
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| Paul Bril Classical landscape with a fountain before 1626 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Paul Bril Rocky landscape with trees and waterfall ca. 1608 drawing British Museum |
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| Paul Bril Rocky landscape with trees 1608 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Paul Bril Wooded landscape 1598 drawing (formerly owned by Jonathan Richardson, Senior) British Museum |
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| Paul Bril Landscape with a sunken road between trees, leading over a hill 1609 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Paul Bril Stream bordered by trees ca. 1590-1610 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Paul Bril Coastal landscape with ruinous castle before 1626 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Paul Bril Roman ruins on the Palatine Hill before 1626 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
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| Paul Bril Ancient ruins, Rome ca. 1600-1626 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Paul Bril Ruins of the palace of Septimius Severus on the Palatine Hill, Rome 1624 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |