Still life with owl

Held at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK), one of the most significant Flemish public collections outside Antwerp, this still life with owl revisits the compositional pairing Boel explored in the Bavarian still life with poultry and hare. The owl's double coding — as potentially hunted quarry and as persistent symbol of night and wisdom — makes it a recurring presence in Boel's still lifes beyond mere species variety. MSK Ghent's collection of Flemish Baroque painting is one of Belgium's most important, and Boel is represented here alongside Rubens, Jordaens, and other canonical Antwerp masters whose work defined the era's visual culture. The still life format and owl subject together suggest a private household commission rather than decorative programme work.

Owl rendering at this more intimate scale — likely a single owl rather than a crowded composition — allows Boel to demonstrate the full range of this specific bird's feather types: the facial disc's fine, radially arranged feathers, the ear-tuft bristles, the wing coverts' complex barred pattern, and the soft breast feathers each require different handling.