La Tauromaquia (Bullfighting) is a series of 33 prints created by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya, which was published in 1816. The works of the series depict bullfighting scenes. There are also seven extra prints that were not published in the original edition.
Background
Goya created Tauromaquia between 1815 and 1816, at the age of 69, during a break from his famous series The Disasters of War. The Disasters of War and the Caprichos, the series he had created previously, served as visual criticism on subjects concerning war, superstition, and contemporary Spanish society generally, including anticlerical scenes. Because of their sensitive subjects, few people had seen these works during Goya's lifetime.
Bullfighting was not politically sensitive, and the series was published at the end of 1816 in an edition of 320—for sale individually or in sets—without incident. It did not meet with critical or commercial success.[1] Goya was always charmed by bullfighting, a theme that obviously inspired him, since it was the subject of many of his works: in a self-portrait (c 1790-95) he depicted himself in a bullfighter's suit; in 1793 he completed a series of eight paintings on tinplate, created for the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, which depicted scenes from bulls' lives from the moment of their birth to the time they enter the bullring; in 1825 he made the series Los toros de Burdeos (The Bulls of Bordeaux) (1825), of which Delacroix purchased a copy.[2] Indicative of his love for bulls is the fact that he signed one of his letters as Francisco de los Toros (Francisco of the Bulls).[3][4]
The works
Goya used mainly the techniques of etching and aquatint in this series. The artist focuses on the violent scenes that take place in the bullring and the daring movements of the bullfighters. The events are not presented as they are viewed by a viewer in the stands, but in a more direct way, in contrast with The Bulls of Bordeaux where the events are presented as a means of popular entertainment.[5]
Works
Νο. 21: "Desgracias acaecidas en el tendido de la plaza de Madrid, y muerte del alcalde de Torrejón" ("Befallen disgraces in the front seats of the plaza of Madrid, and the death of the Mayor of Torrejón")
Νο. 30: Pedro Romero matando a toro parado ("Pedro Romero slaying a standing bull")
Νο. 31: Banderillas de fuego ("Fiery "banderillas")
Νο. 32: Dos grupos de picadores arrollados de seguida por un solo toro ("Two groups of "picadores" pinned down by a single bull")
Νο. 33: La desgraciada muerte de Pepe Illo en la plaza de Madrid ("The disgraceful death of Pepe Illo in Madrid's plaza")
Unpublished prints
A: Un caballero en plaza quebrando un rejoncillo con ayuda de un chulo
B: Desgraciada embestida de un poderoso toro
C: Perros al toro
D: Un varilarguero, montado a hombros de un chulo, pica al toro
E: Espanto y confusión en la defensa de un chulo cogido
F: Varilarguero y chulos haciendo el quite a un torero cogido
G: Función de mojiganga
References
- ^ Wilson-Bareau, 61, 64, and 67
- ^ Edward J. Olszewski - Exorcising Goya's "The Family of Charles IV", σ. 173 Archived 2012-12-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Goya, Rose-Marie & Rainer Hagen, p.10, Taschen
- ^ Francisco Goya, Evan S. Connell, p.20
- ^ Goya, Rose-Marie & Rainer Hagen, σ.87, 88, Taschen
External links
- www.museodelprado.es - Goya en el Prado, Tauromaquia
- National Gallery of Art, Washington[permanent dead link]