Skinned Head of a Young Bull

To the still life artists of the Baroque, God was to be found in everyday objects. therefor it was possible for artists to choose motifs as humble and anti-heroic as offal.

The only part that can be put to no use by the butcher is the head. Everything else on the ox can be boiled, braised, or salted away. What was once a proud animal is now a dismembered, flayed piece of garbage left on the edge of a stone table. The Baroque age made it possible for artists to choose motifs as humble and anti-heroic as offal.

Darkness closes in around the bull’s head, keeping our attention focused on it. Boselli’s hyper-realistic brush records everything down to the smallest detail: the long, bristling eyelashes, the rasping texture of the tongue, the light caught in the enamel of an exposed tooth, etc. The darkness and the realistic style of painting elevates the motif into something that is almost metaphysical in nature. To the still life artists of the Baroque, God was to be found in everyday objects, in food, in pots and pans, or in a flayed bull’s head as is the case here.

During his long career Boselli became one of Italy’s leading painters of still lifes. His circle of patrons included the aristocracy, whose residences he decorated with series of still lifes, flower arrangements, and landscapes.