January was born in Brussels. His father died in 1569, and then, following the death of his mother in 1578, January, along with his brother Pieter Brueghel the Younger and sister Marie, probably went to live with their grandmother Mayken Verhulst (widow of Pieter Coecke van Aelst).
Nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel, of which the latter two were derived from his floral still lifes and paradise landscapes, while the former may refer to the velveteen sheen of his colors. January Brueghel moved to Antwerp around 1583. In about 1589 January traveled to Italy, probably via Cologne.
There he resided first in Naples, where his patron was Francesco Carracciolo.
Next he moved to Rome, working for several discerning cardinals including, most famously, Federico Borromeo. lieutenant was in the company of Borromeo that Brueghel left Rome and took up residence in Milan, where he was part of the Cardinal"s household.
In the summer of 1596 he returned to Antwerp, where he remained for the rest of his life apart from short journeys to Prague and to the Dutch Republic. While in Italy he applied himself principally to landscapes and history paintings, including Biblical narratives and scenes from mythology and ancient history.
Back in Antwerp he continued these types of subject matter but also acquired considerable reputation by his flower paintings and allegories.
Many of his paintings are collaborations in which figures by other painters were placed in landscapes painted by January Brueghel. In other cases, Brueghel painted the figures into another artist"s landscape or architectural interior. Hendrick van Balen and Joos de Momper were also regular collaborators with Brueghel.
He had a studio in Antwerp, where he died from cholera on 13 January 1625.
