Animaux de diverses espèces

Held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille alongside the Muscovy duck study, this canvas depicting diverse animal species is characteristic of Boel's comprehensive animal survey approach — a visual menagerie assembled either for decorative impact or as preparatory reference material for the Gobelins tapestry workshops where he was employed from the 1660s. Lille's museum holds Boel works that entered French collections during his Paris period, reflecting the direct connection between his Antwerp origins and his French court career. Multi-species compositions of this type allowed aristocratic clients to display their familiarity with exotic fauna and demonstrated the painter's encyclopaedic zoological knowledge in a single compelling image.

Managing diverse species in a single composition requires careful tonal and spatial organisation to prevent visual chaos. Boel typically groups animals by size or colour affinity, uses directional arrangements to create movement through the composition, and deploys a landscape or neutral backdrop that recedes sufficiently to keep attention on the varied foreground animal groupings.