Plate 9 from "La Tauromaquia": A Spanish knight kills the bull after having lost his horse
Original title: Plate 9 from "La Tauromaquia": A Spanish knight kills the bull after having lost his horse
kurzbeschreibung
In 1816, the ninth print from Francisco de Goya's etching series 'La Tauromaquia' was made: a scene in which a Spanish knight in armor kills a bull already lying on the ground with his sword. The motif is executed in a mixture of etching, burnished aquatint and burin work.
Description
In the foreground, an armored knight leans over the stretched-out bull and prepares to deliver the fatal thrust with his sword. He holds his helmet in his hand, his gaze fixed on the animal. Behind him, a horse turns its head toward the action. The layout is dynamic and concentrates entirely on the struggle between knight and bull. Gray tones produced by etching and aquatint, along with a diffuse light that brings out shadows and contours, define the monochrome view.
Context
Between 1815 and 1816, Goya worked on 'La Tauromaquia', which first appeared in Madrid in 1816. The series gathers scenes of Spanish bullfighting, from early origins to the practices of his time. Print 9 takes up a historical event in which a knight loses his horse in a fight against a bull. Goya's own experiences with bullfighting, a widespread and controversial tradition in Spain, also fed into the series.
Impact
The precise rendering of the armor and the knight's tense posture make the print immediate and suspenseful. Because everything is limited to shades of gray and clear lighting, the violence of the moment comes into view without being glossed over.
Technique
The print was executed as an etching with burnished aquatint and burin, resulting in fine tonal gradations and precise lines. The aquatint provides soft, grainy areas, while the burin yields sharp contours. The paper measures approximately 30.7 × 43.6 cm, the plate 24.2 × 35 cm.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)