Still Life with an Owl and a Hunting Trophy

Peter Boel was famous as a painter of hunting scenes and still lifes with hunting spoils. He was a pupil of Frans Snijders. He also had a reputation abroad for his skills in drawing and painting animals. Indeed, the French King Louis XIV commissioned Boel to execute numerous animal studies which were then used in tapestry designs. In Still Life with an Owl and a Hunting Trophy we see hunting spoils, comprising a dead hare and fowl, and a live owl chained to a birdcage. The hunter used the owl as a decoy. Next to the owl he placed a lime-twig to catch finches and goldfinches. Their irrepressible desire to provoke the owl from his sleep blinded them to the imminent danger. To the right of the cage stands a heavy vase depicting a drunken Bacchus. His excessive drinking makes him victim to a hangover. The moral is clear: Giving himself up to excessive lusts robs man of his freedom.