Francisco de Goya

The death of Pepe Illo (Bullfighting F)

Clasificación
The death of Pepe Illo (Bullfighting F)
Datos Generales
Cronología
1814 - 1815
Dimensiones
245 x 349 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta, punta seca, buril y bruñidor
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Ficha: realización/revisión
03 Oct 2021 / 22 Jun 2023
Inventario
-
Otros títulos:


Inscripciones

F  (print, upper right-hand corner)

Goya (print, bottom right-hand corner)

Historia

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

The print, rejected by Goya and not included in the first edition of the Bullfighting of 1816, was added and published for the first time, along with six other (A-G), in the third edition of the series, published by Eugène Loizelet in Pais in 1876. It was retained in subsequent editions of the Bullfighting.

A proof of the state before the additional aquatint and another proof of the same state stamped on the reverse of the previous proof are preserved. Both proofs, from the Carderera Collection, are kept in the National Library of Spain, Madrid (Inv. 45679)

The plate is kept at the National Chalcography (nº 372), with Palenque of the Moors made with donkeys to defend themselves from the bull charged with a bull engraved on the obverse. 

Análisis artístico

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

Following the order established by Loizelet in 1876, this is the third of the three scenes (33, E and F) dedicated by Goya to the death of the bullfighter Pepe Illo in the bullring in Madrid on 11 May 1801, reflecting different moments of his mortal injury. In this case we see a moment somewhat later than the one in the immediately preceding picture, entitled The Death of Pepe Illo ( Bullfighting E), as we can see how the bull, after the initial goring in the bullfighter's thigh and his being thrown into the air as shown in that picture, has already impaled the bullfighter in the stomach, a mortal wound of necessity which will be what really causes his death twenty minutes after he suffers it.

We can see that the bullfighter, while being impaled, is holding the bull's horn with one hand, as if trying to free himself, but he looks like a wimp. Just in front of the bull is a picador on horseback, also present in the previous image, who is thrusting his pike into the bull's neck in an attempt to get him to leave the bullfighter. Just behind the main group we see several young men, already present in the preceding engraving, whipping the bull to make him release the bullfighter. In the background we can make out a couple of people holding their faces and turning their faces away from the spectacle, the barrier of the bullring, and the audience in the stands, which cannot be made out as they are only sketched out.

The only point of light in the scene is in the centre of the composition, illuminating the picador, the injured bullfighter and some of the members of his gang who are trying to help him. The print shows perfectly the grain of the aquatint.

Beruete points out that the print has little chiaroscuro, is uniform and somewhat blurred, and lacks the general blotchy effect so frequent in the series. Lafuente Ferrari, for his part, interprets the engraving as a variant of The Death of Pepe Illo ( Bullfighting E) with improved composition and lighting.

Gassier compares the preparatory drawing with the final engraving and points out that the pathos is increased here in the print by the number of figures included and by the final composition used, with the figures grouped together in the centre of the scene.

Martínez-Novillo highlights the quality of the three prints that tell the story of the death of Pepe Illo. In fact, he considers that Goya was satisfied with his work because he did not destroy his plates and signed them, although he only included one in the first edition of the Bullfighting. In his opinion, Goya finally chose to show the simplest view of Pepe Illo's death, which is why he decided on The Unfortunate Death of Pepe Illo in the Madrid Square.

It is also worth noting that Goya dedicated another print in Bullfighting to Pepe Illo, very different from the previous ones, as it focuses on his great skills as a bullfighter although it also alludes to his tendency towards recklessness: Pepe Illo cutting the bull.

There is a preparatory drawing for this print, also entitled The death of Pepe Illo (Bullfighting F)

Exposiciones
  • Grabados y dibujos de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1946
    catalogue Elena Páez Ríos
  • Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional. Exposición de grabados y dibujos en el sesquicentenario de su muerte
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1978
    May - June 1978
  •  Grabados de Goya: colección propiedad de la Biblioteca Nacional, que se conserva en su Gabinete de
    Casa de la Amistad de Moscú
    Moscow
    1979
    exhibition displayed from January 18th to 31st 1979
  • 1984
  • Madrid
    1990
  • Goya grabador
    Fundación Juan March
    Madrid
    1994
    consultant editors Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez and Julián Gállego, from January 14th to March 20th 1994
  • Goya grabador
    Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo
    Marbella
    1996
    from March 8th to May 5th 1996
  • Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1996
    from September 19th to December 15th 1996
  • Schlaf der Vernunft. Original radierungen von Francisco de Goya
    Munich
    2000
  • Madrid
    2002
  • Madrid
    2002
  • Bilbao
    2012
  • Zaragoza
    2017
Bibliografía
  • BERUETE Y MORET, Aureliano
    MadridBlass S.A.
    1918
    p. 139
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    1946
    pp. 177-216, espec. pp. 212-213
  • LUJÁN, Néstor
    BarcelonaTartessos-F. Oliver Branchfelt
    1946 (reed. 1951)
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    vol. II, 1964, p. 356, cat. 242
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 280, cat. 1229
  • SAYRE, Eleanor
    The Changing image: Prints by Francisco Goya
    BostonMuseum of Fine Arts
    1974
    pp. 244-247, cat. 196
  • HOLO, Selma Reuben
    MilwakeeMilwaukee Art Museum
    1986
    pp. 19 y 28
  • GASSIER, Pierre
    Goya, toros y toreros
    MadridMinisterio de Cultura, Comunidad de Madrid
    1990
    pp. 122-123, cat. 57
  • MARTÍNEZ-NOVILLO, Álvaro
    MadridCaser-Turner
    1992
    pp. 37 y 39
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    cat. 366
  • SANTIAGO PÁEZ, Elena y WILSON-BAREAU, Juliet (comisarias)
    Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridBiblioteca Nacional, Sociedad Estatal Goya 96 y Lunwerg
    1996
    pp. 244-245
  • MATILLA, José Manuel y MEDRANO, José Miguel
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2001
    pp. 105-106
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 186-201
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