The Spanish Bullfight | |
---|---|
Artist | James Gillray |
Year | 11 July 1808 |
Type | Hand-coloured etching |
Dimensions | 23.3 cm× 35.5 cm(9.2 in× 14.0 in) |
Location | British Museum, London |
The Spanish Bullfight is an 1808 satirical cartoon by the British caricaturist James Gillray which presents the ongoing Napoleonic Wars as a bullfight. [1] It was inspired by the Dos de Mayo Uprising in Madrid and other uprisings across Spain against French occupation which triggered the Peninsular War. Spain, previously an enemy of Britain, rapidly became an ally. It is known with the subtitle The Corsican Matador in Danger.
The Corsican-born French emperor Napoleon is depicted as a matador being tossed by a bull representing the Kingdom of Spain. His brother Joseph I, who had replaced the deposed Charles IV, has already been gored by the bull. [2] On the right of the image three bulls, previously wounded by the matadors, are marked as Denmark, Dutch and Prussian animals. The Bullring in which the spectacle takes place is named the Theatre Royal, Europe. Watching with approval are various monarchs of Europe and beyond George III, Francis I of Austria, John, Regent of Portugal, Alexander I of Russia, Gustav IV of Sweden, Pope Pius VII, Mustafa IV of the Ottoman Empire and Frederick William III of Prussia. [3]
Its identification of the Spanish nation with a bull may have been an inspiration for La Tauromaquia Francisco Goya's later series of prints. [4] The print was published by Hannah Humphrey who distributed much of Gillray's output. Copies of the work exist at a variety of locations including the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. [5] [6]
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and engravings reflected contemporary historical upheavals and influenced important 19th- and 20th-century painters. Goya is often referred to as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns.
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings. Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, and can serve a political purpose, be drawn solely for entertainment, or for a combination of both. Caricatures of politicians are commonly used in newspapers and news magazines as political cartoons, while caricatures of movie stars are often found in entertainment magazines. In literature, a caricature is a distorted representation of a person in a way that exaggerates some characteristics and oversimplifies others.
A bullfighter is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. Torero or toureiro, both from Latin taurarius, are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activity of bullfighting as practised in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Peru, France, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and other countries influenced by Portuguese and Spanish culture. The main performer and leader of the entourage in a bullfight, and who finally kills the bull, is addressed as maestro (master), or with the formal title matador de toros. The other bullfighters in the entourage are called subalternos and their suits are embroidered in silver as opposed to the matador's gold. They include the picadores, rejoneadores, and banderilleros.
James Gillray was a British caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires, mainly published between 1792 and 1810. Many of his works are held at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
George Cruikshank or Cruickshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.
The Third of May 1808 in Madrid is a painting completed in 1814 by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. In the work, Goya sought to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon's armies during the occupation of 1808 in the Peninsular War. Along with its companion piece of the same size, The Second of May 1808, it was commissioned by the provisional government of Spain at Goya's own suggestion shortly after the ousting of the French occupation and the restoration of King Ferdinand VII.
Spanish-style bullfighting is a type of bullfighting that is practiced in several Spanish-speaking countries: Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, as well as in parts of southern France and Portugal. In Colombia it has been outlawed but is being phased out with a full ban coming in effect in 2027. This style of bullfighting involves a physical contest with humans attempting to publicly subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull. The most common bull used is the Spanish Fighting Bull, a type of cattle native to the Iberian Peninsula. This style of bullfighting is seen to be both a sport and performance art. The red colour of the cape is a matter of tradition – bulls are color blind. They attack moving objects; the brightly-colored cape is used to mask blood stains.
The Disasters of War is a series of 82 prints created between 1810 and 1820 by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya (1746–1828). Although Goya did not make known his intention when creating the plates, art historians view them as a visual protest against the violence of the 1808 Dos de Mayo Uprising, the subsequent cruel war that ended in Spanish victory in the Peninsular War of 1808–1814 and the setbacks to the liberal cause following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1814. During the conflicts between Napoleon's French Empire and Spain, Goya retained his position as first court painter to the Spanish crown and continued to produce portraits of the Spanish and French rulers. Although deeply affected by the war, he kept private his thoughts on the art he produced in response to the conflict and its aftermath.
Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations.
Unfortunate Events in the Front Seats of the Ring of Madrid, and the Death of the Mayor of Torrejón is the name given to an etching with burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on paper by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya.
The Inquisition Tribunal, also known as The Court of the Inquisition or The Inquisition Scene, is a 46-by-73-centimetre oil-on-panel painting produced by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya between 1812 and 1819. The painting belongs to a series which also includes Bullfight, The Madhouse and A Procession of Flagellants, all reflecting customs which liberals objected to and wished were abandoned, but their reform was opposed by the absolutist (autocratic) policy of Ferdinand VII of Spain.
Le petit picador jaune is an oil on wood painting by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, which he created in 1889 at the age of eight. It is considered to be the earliest known surviving work by the artist. The painting is a colourful representation of a Spanish bullfight, a subject which Picasso repeatedly returned to throughout his career.
La Tauromaquia (Bullfighting) is a series of 33 prints created by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya, which was published in 1816. The works of the series depict bullfighting scenes. There are also seven extra prints that were not published in the original edition.
Bullfight is an 1824 oil painting by Francisco Goya owned since 1992 by the J. Paul Getty Museum. When the museum bought the painting at auction in 1992, it shattered the artist's previous auction record. This piece shows Goya’s favorite form of entertainment: the controversial contest of bullfighting.
The Dead Man is an 1860s oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet, produced during a period in which Manet was strongly influenced by Spanish themes and painters such as Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya and bullfighting.
The Bulls of Bordeaux is a series of four lithographs featuring scenes of bullfighting by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya, produced in 1825 during his exile in France. Unlike the series La Tauromaquia which dealt with the performers in bullfighting, The Bulls of Bordeaux deals with bullfighting as a popular spectacle.
British Tars Towing the Danish Fleet into Harbour is an 1807 cartoon by the British caricaturist James Gillray. Like much of his work the image portrays a contemporary event, the bombardment of Copenhagen and seizure of the Danish fleet by the Royal Navy to prevent it from falling into the hands of the French Empire with which Britain was at war.
A Village Bullfight or A Village Corrida is an oil painting by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya.
La novillada, is an oil painting by Francisco de Goya, painted in 1780, when he was trying his hand at bullfighting. It is part of the fourth series of tapestry cartoons for the Prince of Asturias' antechamber in the Pardo Palace.
The Allied Bakers or the Corsican Toad-in-the-hole is an 1814 political caricature by the British illustrator George Cruikshank. It makes reference to Napoleon's Corsican heritage and the traditional British dish toad in the hole.