Plate 21 from "La Tauromaquia": Dreadful events in the front rows of the ring at Madrid and death of the mayor of Torrejon

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

1816 · Etching, burnished aquatint, lavis, drypoint, burin · Drawings and Prints

The most extraordinary bullfighting episode that Goya might have witnessed is undoubtedly that depicted here, the death by goring of the mayor of Torrejón in the bullring at Madrid. While the circumstances and the identity of the actual victim are unclear, similar accidents were documented in 1790 and 1801. The diminutive figure watching in the background resembles Goya. This bystander’s attentive yet detached expression, compared with the other figures’ looks of horror, might allude to the creative distance that separates artist from subject.

Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

Date

1816

Medium

Etching, burnished aquatint, lavis, drypoint, burin

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1921