Felice Boselli

FELICE BOSELLI (Piacenza, 1650 - Parma, 1732).
"Still life".
Oil on canvas. Reenntelado.
Measurements: 90 x 84,5 cm; 112 x 105 cm (frame).
Felice Boselli is inscribed in the panorama of Italian Baroque painting as a specialist in still lifes of strong material and narrative imprint, whose work is nourished both by the Lombard-Emilian tradition and by Flemish and Roman influences. Trained in his native city under the guidance of Michelangelo Nuvolone, and in early contact with the animalist Angelo Crivelli, Boselli developed a particular sensitivity towards the representation of the organic treated with a mixture of rawness and technical refinement. His career, which unfolds between Piacenza and Parma, reveals a constant attention to the everyday elevated to an aesthetic category, in dialogue with references such as the Cremonese school, the tradition of Bartolomeo Bettera, the narrative energy of Michelangelo Cerquozzi and the thematic echo of Annibale Carracci's "Macelleria". To this is added a meticulous observation of nature and an interest in tactile, luminous and chromatic hallmarks that place his production at a point of convergence between descriptive realism and baroque theatricality.
These influences are palpable in the painting presented, where the accumulation of elements, onions with shiny bulbs and tangled roots, vegetables with leaves open in almost sculptural spirals, ripe fruits open to reveal their reddish pulp, and birds that introduce an animated dimension, configures a scene of abundance charged with sensory tension. The heritage of Crivelli and hunting painting can be seen in the animal presence and in the attention to feathery textures, while the Flemish influence is perceived in the chromatic richness and in the almost tactile detail of each surface. For its part, the tradition of the "bambocciate" and Cerquozzi is filtered in the inclusion of small narrative clues such as the bird or the almost scenic arrangement of the objects, which suggest a story beyond the simple accumulation. The composition, dense and dark, is articulated through a dramatic chiaroscuro that makes the volumes emerge from a somber background, intensifying the almost theatrical character of the whole.