Francisco de Goya

The manly courage of the famous Pajuelera in Zaragoza

Clasificación
The manly courage of the famous Pajuelera in Zaragoza
Datos Generales
Cronología
1814 - 1816
Dimensiones
250 x 351 mm
Técnica y soporte
Aguafuerte, aguatinta, punta seca, buril y bruñidor
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Ficha: realización/revisión
02 Oct 2021 / 22 Jun 2023
Inventario
-
Inscripciones

22 (print, upper right-hand corner)

Goya (inverted, printed, down left-hand corner)

 

Historia

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

A state proof is preserved before aquatint and burin.

The plate is preserved in the National Chalcography (no. 355) and has the work Combat of a harnessed carriage with two mules ( Bullfighting G).

Análisis artístico

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

In the scene we see a woman, dressed as a man, on horseback, stinging the bull in front of her in the middle of a bullring, while a farmhand, almost hidden behind the equine, seems to be leading him towards the luck of the sticks, preventing him from escaping.In the background on the right, behind the barrier, a small group of spectators can be glimpsed, which is somewhat blurred by the aquatint. Apart from this small group of spectators, the rest of the barrier and the stands are empty. As in the other prints in the series, the bull stands out, charging at the horse, which he almost stabs with his horns.

Gassier believes that Goya may have witnessd the scene in the Saragossa bullring, as the protagonist, the famous Pajuelera, was well known in the third quarter of the 18th century for her fearlessness in the luck of the bulls and for being a pioneer of women's bullfighting. Teh bullfighter´s name was actually Nocolasa Escamilla and when she was young she sold straws or sulphur wicks, the first version of today marches, hence her stage name. 

Both Beruete and Bagüés comment on the difference between the engraving and the preparatory drawing of the same, also entitled The manly courage of the famous Pajuelera in Zaragoza, in the expression on the protagonist's face. Sánchez Cantón and Glendinning, for their part, stress the same aspect, the latter emphasising that the bullfighter's face in the drawing is less expressive and more friendly. Between drawing and print there are also variations in aspects such as the Pajuelera's hairstyle and the audience, which are much more abundant in the preparatory study. 

Matilla explains the print as a representation of the transition from bullfighting on horseback, which had been predominant in the past, to bullfighting on foot. In fact, according to Matilla, it shows an unregulated cast, like those performed in his prints of the series by bullfighters still in transition, such as Martincho, Apiñani, the student from Falces and Mariano Ceballos.

Due to its composition and subject matter, the work is related to the following engraving of Bullfighting, entitled Mariano Ceballos, aka "the Indian", kills the bull from his horse.

Exposiciones
  • Grabados y dibujos de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1946
    catalogue Elena Páez Ríos
  • Boston
    1974
  • 1975
  • 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
    1987
  • 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
  • Zaragoza
    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
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
  • Zaragoza
    2017
  • 2022
Bibliografía
  • BERUETE Y MORET, Aureliano
    MadridBlass S.A.
    1918
    p. 134
  • ZaragozaTip. del Hospicio
    1926
    pp. 32-33
  • LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique
    1946
    pp. 177-216, espec. pp. 200-201
  • LUJÁN, Néstor
    BarcelonaTartessos-F. Oliver Branchfelt
    1946 (reed. 1951)
  • SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN. Francisco Javier
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1954
    cat. 175
  • GLENDINNING, Nigel
    1961
    pp. 120-127
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    vol. II, 1964, pp. 337-338, cat. 225
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 278, cat. 1194
  • HOLO, Selma Reuben
    MilwakeeMilwaukee Art Museum
    1986
    p. 24
  • GASSIER, Pierre
    Goya, toros y toreros
    MadridMinisterio de Cultura, Comunidad de Madrid
    1990
    p. 105, cat. 39
  • MARTÍNEZ-NOVILLO, Álvaro
    MadridCaser-Turner
    1992
    pp. 26 y 34-35
  • ANSÓN NAVARRO, Arturo
    Goya y Aragón. Familia, amistades y encargos artísticos
    col. Col. Mariano de Pano y Ruata
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de la Inmaculada de Aragón
    1995
    pp. 227-229
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    cat. 344
  • SANTIAGO PÁEZ, Elena y WILSON-BAREAU, Juliet (comisarias)
    Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridBiblioteca Nacional, Sociedad Estatal Goya 96 y Lunwerg
    1996
    p. 251
  • MATILLA, José Manuel
    SevillaSociedad Estatal Nuevo Milenio
    2001
    pp. 288-289, cat. 75
  • MATILLA, José Manuel y MEDRANO, José Miguel
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    2001
    pp. 78-79
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 108
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 186-201
  • TORAL OROPESA, María and MARTÍN MEDINA, Víctor
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz
    2022
    p. 89
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