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) Spanish
Not on view
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.
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