- Cronología
- Ca. 1814 - 1816
- Ubicación
- The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Dimensiones
- 192 x 318 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
- P00753
1 (lower left corner)
242 [last digit partially covered by a fragment of paper stuck to it] (upper right-hand corner)
242 (reverse, lower part)
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.
See How the ancient Spaniards hunted bulls on horseback in the countryside.
Preparatory drawing for the print Mariano Ceballos mounted on a bull with a rejón (Bullfighting J), a print which in the end was not included in the official Bullfighting series, although two state proofs of it have been preserved, but the plate has not.
In this preparatory study we see Mariano Ceballos performing his famous and reckless number on the back of a bull. In this case there are many secondary characters in action, giving the scene a somewhat chaotic appearance, which Goya later corrected on the plate, and thus in the print, by removing many of them. In any case, it is clear that the main group, which will be reproduced almost verbatim in the print, is the one on the right of the composition. It consists of Mariano Ceballos on the back of a bull facing another bull, which is depicted in profile. Behind this main group we find a large group of secondary figures, many of them sketchy, almost without detail, and the only one that can be distinguished among them is a subaltern who is holding a cape in his hands and seems to be attracting the attention of the white bull. In the left corner is a lightly sketched figure who seems to be in full movement as he moves away from the bull. In the background, the barrier, the bullring and the audience can be glimpsed in the background.
This preparatory study makes it possible to follow the evolution of Goya's approach from a very variegated composition in the drawing to a much more refined one in the plate, in which only the essentials are preserved.
The paper still has creases from having passed through the press.
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Goya. Exposition de l’oeuvre gravé, de peintures, de tapisseries et de cent dix dessins du Musée duBibliothèque nationale de FranceParís1935cat. 275
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Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. TapisserienKunsthalle BaselBasle1953from January 23th to April 12th 1953cat. 115
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MadridBlass S.A.1918pp. 134-135 y 140
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1941pp. 186 y 192
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1946pp. 177-216, espec. p. 215
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BarcelonaTartessos-F. Oliver Branchfelt1946 (reed. 1951)
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MadridMuseo del Prado1954n. 193
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ParísLe Club Français du Livre1963p. 191
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OxfordBruno Cassirer1964vol. II, 1964, p. 360, cat. 246
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Vie et ouvre de Francisco de GoyaParísOffice du livre1970p. 281, cat. 1238
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Barcelona1974p.21
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Dibujos de Goya, 2 volsBarcelonaNoguer1975pp. 422-423, cat. 286
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El mundo de Goya en sus dibujosMadridUrbión1979pp.210-211
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MilwakeeMilwaukee Art Museum1986p. 19
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MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado2001p. 109