The famous Fernando del Toro, barilarguero, forcing the beast with his garrocha (preparatory drawing).

See How the ancient Spaniards hunted bulls on horseback in the countryside.

Preparatory drawing of the print The famous Fernando del Toro, barilarguero, forcing the beast with his garrocha. This is the only preparatory study of the Bullfight in which red wash is used, which gives more movement to the scene, which almost resembles a watercolour, while at the same time darkening it, a darkening that in the engraving is achieved through aquatint.

The composition is still very full of different elements occupying the bullring, mainly people and horses, which is why it will be lightened when it is transferred to copper.

Goya may have seen this scene in the bullring in Saragossa when he was young. The bull stands out in the foreground, in profile, looking defiantly at the picador, Fernando del Toro, who stands in front of him. Behind the picador we can make out the figure of a man. On the left of the scene, still in the foreground, we see a horse on the ground that appears to be badly wounded. Behind it is another picador on horseback. In this case the equine seems to be bending his hind legs. Finally, in the background, the figures cannot be made out very well because they are too blurred, but there seem to be many of them. Most of them will disappear when they are transferred to the plate.

This drawing was pasted onto a second laid paper belonging to a French army record book in Spain.