Francisco de Goya

The death of Pepe Illo (Bullfighting F) (preparatory drawing)

Clasificación
The death of Pepe Illo (Bullfighting F) (preparatory drawing)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1814 - 1815
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
192 x 320 mm
Técnica y soporte
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
03 Oct 2021 / 22 Jun 2023
Inventario
(D4324)
Otros títulos:


Inscripciones

8 (in pencil, bottom right-hand corner)

7 (in pencil, upper left-hand corner)

246 (reverse, lower part)

Engraved but unpublished (reverse, upper central part)

Historia

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

This preparatory drawing passed by inheritance in 1828 to Javier Goya, the painter's son, and in 1854 to Mariano Goya y Goicoechea, the artist's grandson. It was subsequently owned by Valentín Carderera (ca. 1861) and Mariano Carderera (1880). In 1886 it was acquired from Mariano Carderera, along with many other drawings by Goya, including almost all the preparatory studies for the Bullfight, by the Directorate General of Public Instruction, and was assigned to the Prado Museum, where it entered on 12 November 1886.

Análisis artístico

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

Preparatory drawing for the print The Death of Pepe Illo (Bullfighting F). It is also related to the engravings The Death of Pepe Illo (Bullfighting E) and The Unfortunate Death of Pepe Illo in the Bullring in Madrid, as they deal with the same subject: the death of the bullfighter Pepe Illo in the bullring in Madrid on 11 May 1801.

This drawing, although a preparatory drawing for the above-mentioned print, differs somewhat from it in its rapid strokes and with a large number of figures. In fact, it shows a slightly earlier moment of the bullfighter's death. In this case we see how the bull, with the bullfighter nailed to the horn, appears on the left of the composition, while two figures grab him by the tail to see if he will let go of the master, figures that will disappear in the later engraving. On the right of the drawing we see a picador on horseback with a pike in his hand, heading straight for the bull to whip him and try to get him to release the bullfighter. In contrast to the later print, he is not yet poking the bull.

The light falls on the scene from right to left, illuminating it diagonally. This is a drawing that does not dwell much on the details of the figures, except for the bull, reflected in full movement, and the horse, although in the latter Goya did not make as much of an anatomical study as in the former. The rest of the figures are simply sketched.

Gassier points out that the pathos of the scene is greater in the engraving due to the grouping of the figures in the centre of the composition.

Conservación

The paper retains creases from being passed through the press.

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Exposition de l’oeuvre gravé, de peintures, de tapisseries et de cent dix dessins du Musée du
    Bibliothèque nationale de France
    París
    1935
  • Boston
    1974
  • Madrid
    1990
  • Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1996
    from September 19th to December 15th 1996
Bibliografía
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    1946
    pp. 177-216, espec. pp. 212-213
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN. Francisco Javier
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1954
    cat. 190
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    ParísLe Club Français du Livre
    1963
    p. 177
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 280, cat. 1230
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    Barcelona
    1974
    p. 20
  • SAYRE, Eleanor
    The Changing image: Prints by Francisco Goya
    BostonMuseum of Fine Arts
    1974
    pp. 244-247
  • GASSIER, Pierre
    Dibujos de Goya, 2 vols
    BarcelonaNoguer
    1975
    pp. 414-415, cat. 282
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    El mundo de Goya en sus dibujos
    MadridUrbión
    1979
    pp. 209-210
  • 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
Volver
Usamos cookies propias y de terceros para mejorar su navegación. Si continua navegando consideramos que acepta el uso de cookies.