  We have investigated the nature and the origin of the telescopes depicted in
three paintings of J. Bruegel the Elder completed between 1609 and 1618. The
"tube" that appears in the painting dated 1608-1612 represents a very early
dutch spyglass, tentatively attributable to Sacharias Janssen or Lipperhey,
prior to those made by Galileo, while the two instruments made of several
draw-tubes which appear in the two paintings of 1617 and 1618 are quite
sophisticated and may represent early examples of Keplerian telescopes.
