Plate 1 from "La Tauromaquia": The way in which the ancient Spaniards hunted bulls on horseback in the open country

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

1816 · Etching, aquatint, drypoint · Drawings and Prints

This print belongs to the group of thirteen scenes surveying the history of Spanish bullfighting that opens Tauromaquia. Goya attempted to evoke its origins in this print, showing an early Spaniard dressed in animal skins on horseback, riding in a mountainous setting. The awkward way the figure holds the lance underscores the rudimentary beginnings of bullfighting; it was thought to have been introduced to Spain when the Iberian Peninsula was under the rule of the Romans or the Moors.

Artist

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

Date

1816

Medium

Etching, aquatint, drypoint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1921