'Barbarous Entertainment', a blind guitarist on the horns of a bull

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

1800–1804 (published 1828–67) · Etching, aquatint, drypoint on laid paper · Drawings and Prints

Shortly after publishing the Caprichos in 1799, Goya made this independent print. It returns to the subject of the blind guitarist the artist had explored earlier an etching from around 1778 (see 22.63.29). The title Barbarous entertainment is taken from an inscription written by Goya on an impression of the print at the British Museum. It suggests his ambivalence toward the practice of bullfighting in Spain. The print might have been inspired by the comic bullfighter Ramón de la Rosa, whose antics were reported in a Madrid newspaper in 1797.

Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

Date

1800–1804 (published 1828–67)

Medium

Etching, aquatint, drypoint on laid paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1918