A New View of Goya's Tauromaquia

A New View of Goya's Tauromaquia
Author(s): Nigel Glendinning
Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 24, No. 1/2 (Jan. - Jun.,
1961), pp. 120-127
Published by: The Warburg Institute
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/750777
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120
NOTES
significance has undergone a change
in
pattern
is its followed
her
the course of
his preparation of the etching.
faces
of
the
other
figu
of
the
The Lefort and Douce
"Dark
parts
commentaries
which
Lady"
are
close to the poems
do not the
contribute muche
But
in
our understanding of the final
stage in
still to further
fro
pleasant.
Goya's treatment
of the theme.
But their
these
hints
of
gene
relevance is explained
if the
Dicimas are
wickedness
are
deve
the source
for his preliminary drawing. Ultidescending
darkness
fi
mately perhaps the Carderera
manuscript
the
plate
which
had
on
in
gives the best interpretation of the plate
preliminary
the
when it suggests thatmons
all men are equally
made
yet itself
more
perverted by passion; that misery
and misare
recognizably
repe
viously
The
fortune figure
are human conditions from which
the
of
a
owl, nobody
which
can escape. In fact Goya
sym
has ex-
reason
so
the horned head accentuates the vileness or
often
in
the
panded the original story
to make
his criti- C
cisms general rather than particular, by
showing the punisher to be no better than
ignorance of his nature. By contrast, the
soldier is still less despicable than formerly.
the punished. Nevertheless, the lesser-known
commentaries were also right in their way
Heavy shading on his neck has made his chin
when they pointed to one of the "casos deterstronger and firmer. His features as a whole
minados" which Sanchez Cant6n suggests
seem less coarse. Altogether he is a much
underlie many of the Caprichos.21 They serve
more pathetic figure than he was in the draw-
to remind us that Goya was as much an
ing, and his penitential robe now covers him
as a learned and literary-minded
completely. The head and shoulders ofobserver
an
of society; that he was equally inapparently genuine penitent echo him in critic
the
background instead of the allegorical dog.fluenced by what he saw or heard and by
what he read.22
Clearly Goya's conception of the story and
NIGEL GLENDINNING
19 This aquatint is in the Prints and Drawings De-
partment of the British Museum and has the reference
21 F. J. SAnchez Cant6n, Los dibujos de Goya, Madrid
and it is probably earlier than either the drawing or the
22 The illustrations to this Note are reproduced by
I860-4-I4-27. Delteil (Plate 37) dates it about 1795 1954, I, Introducci6n p. C (v).
etching of 'Trigala, perro'. The dress of the three courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the
animals is so ambiguous that it is impossible to say Museo del Prado, Madrid, and the Trustees of the
whether the aquatint is in any way connected with the British Museum. I am grateful to the Curators of the
story of the Monk and the Soldier, or is merely a Bodleian Library, Oxford, for permission to quote
caricature of a purge.
material from the copy of the Caprichos in their Douce
20 Cf. George Levitine, "Some emblematic sourcescollection as well as extracts from Douce's corresof Goya", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, pondence and papers.
XXII, 1959, pp. 19 ff.
A NEW VIEW OF GOYA'S
TA UROMAQUIA
The Tauromaquia
most recent
interpretations of Goya's
(P1. 2o) make it one of the
least coherent and unified of his series of etch-
ings.' In view of the single central topic this
may seem paradoxical. But critics have so far
always inclined to the opinion that the artist's
conception varied in the course of the work.
And although it was originally agreed that
Goya's prime intention was to describe the
Spanish national sport accurately and realistically-in the manner of the later nineteenthcentury costumbristas in Spain-it was early
noticed that there were elements in some of
x See, for example, E. Lafuente Ferrari's two detailed
studies: "Ilustraci6n y elaboraci6n en la 'Tauro-
the plates which did not fit in with the sup-
maquia' de Goya", in Archivo Espai~ol de Arte, No. 75,
posed documentary approach. Th6ophile
1946, pp. 177-21 6, and "Los toros en las artes pl sticas",
Gautier in 1842 was one of the first to point
in Los toros, ed. Jos6 Maria de Cossio, Madrid, 1953.
II, pp. 737 et seq. In subsequent notes these will be
otherwise indicated, to the standard published edition
referred to as Archivo and Toros respectively.
The Plate numbers throughout this Note refer, unless of the Tauromaquia.
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b-Title-page
a-Goya, aquatint, 'Le Clystere', British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, 1860-4-14-27 (p. I19)
c-Lysippus the Younger, medal depicting Catalano Casali (p. 128)
d-reverse of (c) (p. I28)
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M
20
Photo : Conway Library, Courtauld Inst. of Art, London
a-Goya, Tauromaquia, No. I, 'Modo con que los antiguos espafioles cazaban los toros a caballo en
el campo', Ist ed., 1816 (p. 12o)
b-Goya, Tauromaquia, No. Io, 'Carlos V lanceando un toro en la plaza de Valladolid', Ist ed., 1816
(p. I20)
: Conway Library, Courtauld Inst. of Art, London
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14:38:24
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A NEW VIEW OF GOYA'S TAUROMAQUIA 121
inconsistencies
they find in the series, because
this out. "Quoique les attitudes,
les poses,
they still techadhere to the initial nineteenthles attaques, ou, pour parler le langage
nique, les diff6rentes suertes et cogidas
century soient
view that the Tauromaquia is a serious
and documentary work.7 Faced
d'une exactitude irreprochable," historical
he wrote,
"Goya a repandu sur ces scenes des
with ombres
inaccuracies, they tend to suggest that
at best Homer was momentarily nodding, and
mysterieuses et ses couleurs fantastiques.'"
Other nineteenth-century critics shared
Gau-dealing with the more distant
at worst (when
tier's view. It was implicit in Carderera's
past) was awake but simply not interested in
what hewhich
was doing.8 Yet it is hardly good
discussion of the preliminary drawings
critical method to treat what seem to be
were in his possession, and in Matheron's
description of the etchings themselves;
lapsesBrunet
on the part of the artist in a cavalier
manner before it is certain that they do not,
quoted and Charles Yriarte paraphrased
Gautier with respect and evidentinapproval.3
fact, form an integral part of the work and
But the straightforward duality ofcontribute
spirit and
to its meaning. Goya was perfectly
content-the one Romantic and the other
capable of accuracy when he wished. The
factual-which they thought they saw trouble
in the he took over significant detail in
Tauromaquia, has long since been set aside
as religious paintings has often been
certain
an over-simplification. Already in 1877
Leattested,9
and there is no reason to suppose
fort could trace two separate mannersthat,
in the
given his interest in bull-fighting, he
actual execution of the work,4 and recently
could not have acquired the necessary historiLafuente Ferrari has outlined no less than
cal information had it been his purpose to
three distinct phases or conceptions in
it.communicate
it. The suggestion that Goya
The view of the whole nature of the series has
was not genuinely interested in the non-
changed radically. And now, instead of thecontemporary side of the work is equally
highly coloured but accurate account of theexceptionable. Why should he have embull-ring beloved of the nineteenth century,
barked upon it in the first place if he would
we have a work full of anachronisms and inhave preferred to give an account only of
adequate documentation: afrente por detrdswhat
by he had seen himself? The existence of
Moors in Plate 6; incongruous archesAntonio
in
Carnicero's Coleccidn de las principales
Plate 8; Charles V improperly dressed
in
suertes
de una corrida de toros (Madrid, 1790)
Plate Io; and in Plate 30 a method of holding
would hardly have been sufficient to stop him
the sword for the kill more appropriate if
tothat
a
was what he really wanted to produce.
hand-saw, according to one critic and
aficionado.6
In view of the increasing number of anomalies found in the Tauromaquia some new overall interpretation would seem to be necessary
if the work is to be seen as a satisfactory
artistic whole and not an arbitrary string of
brilliant independent pieces united only by
medium and general topic. Up to the present
most critics have rather condescendingly tried
to explain away and not to account for the
In re-examining the Tauromaquia, therefore, I intend first to inquire into the exact
nature of the historical basis of the work and
the artist's treatment of it. Is it as straightforwardly documentary and "realistic" as is
usually supposed? And, if it is, are the inaccuracies merely accidental or is there some
ulterior motive behind them? Finally, is
Goya's carelessness or ignorance or unconcern
the only possible explanation of the anomalies
in the series, or is there some other explana-
tion which would give them function and
2 Le cabinet de l'amateur et de l'antiquaire, Paris, 1842,
significance?
I, p. 344.
1 Cf. Laurent Matheron, Goya, Paris, 1858; article
of Carderera in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, i86o, VII,
pp. 225-6; M. G. Brunet, Etude sur Francisco Goya,
Paris, I865, p. i9; Charles Yriarte, Goya, Paris, 1867,
p. 120o ("le parti pris de coloration . . . donne A ces
planches un aspect fantastique et conventionnel").
' Paul Lefort, Francisco Goya, Paris, 1877, p. 69-
"II y a deux manibres dans la Tauromachie, et les
planches num6rot6es de I I12, par exemple, nous
paraissent diff6rer de celles num6rot6es I9, 23, 27, 28,
31 et 32, pour ne citer que les plus saillantes, aussi bien
par le proc6d6 et la conduite de la pointe que par le
mode de composition et par le dessin."
* Cf. Archivio, p. I85.
d Cf. Toros, comments on Pls. 6, 8, Io and 30.
7 Cf. for example A. de Beruete y Moret, Goya,
Madrid, 1928, p. 230; Archivo, p. 177 ("Es la Tauromaquia la dinica serie grabada del artista que parece
ostentar un cierto valor documental e ilustrativo,
consciente y decidido en su autor"); also p. 18I, but
compare comments on Pls. 3 and 9, pp. 188, 191.
8 Cf. Toros, p. 779 for example ("en nada mejora su
documentaci6n hist6rica para representar al Cid, que
aparece aqui grotesca y anacr6nicamente vestido .. .").
Lafuente seems to suggest that Goya was almost relieved to give up the historical side of the work in
P1. 13, see p. 786.
1 Cf. F. Sanchez Cant6n, Vida y obras de Goya,
Madrid, 1951, p. 114.
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122
At
NOTES
is
usually taken to be "Martincho"
throwing
sight
it
wou
a bull in the
Madrid arena, could in fact be
Goya
conceived
first
that
Mam6n" who is mentioned of
by
historical"brave
survey
tisement which was inserted in the Diario de
Moratin plausibly enough as one who caught
Madrid on 28 October 1816, and again bulls
in by the tail and climbed on to them.'5
the Gaceta de Madrid in December of the same
But the mere presence of historical material,
year, appears to say so unequivocally.'0 from whatever source it is taken, does not
necessarily mean that the work is intended to
"Colecci6n de estampas inventadas y grabadas al agua fuerte por Don Francisco Goya,impart historical information in a simple
documentary way. Indeed, Goya's failure to
pintor de cdmara de S.M.," it runs, "en que
se representan diversas suertes de toros, ykeep to a chronological order on several occalances ocurridos con motivo de estas funciones
sions and his apparent lack of concern for
en nuestras plazas; dindose en la serie de las
accuracy of detail, might be taken to imply
that it was not his intention to be documenestampas una idea de los principios, progreso y
tary. Obviously, before further conclusions
estado actual de dichas fiestas en Espafia, que
can be reached we should ask whether the
sin explicaci6n se manifiesta por la sola vista
de ellas . . ." (my italics). Apart from the departures from chronological order and
slight possibility of irony in the reference tohistorical accuracy might not in themselves
the present state of bull-fighting-Goya porhave formed part of the artist's aim. Some
trays practically nothing after the turn of the
light is thrown on this difficult problem by a
century-everything in the announcementmanuscript list of the plates bound with the
points to a didactic and historical approach,
copy of the Tauromaquia bought by Francis
which was precisely what distinguished itDouce, probably in the I820's, and now in
from the earlier and immensely popular series
the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford.s6 This
of Antonio Carnicero.1" The fact that Goya
manuscript, Asuntos de las Estampas, differs
based his work on NicolAs FernAndez de
from the list originally printed and distriMoratin's Carta histdrica sobre el origen buted
y pro-with the work in both the descriptions
gresos de las fiestas de toros en Espania (Madrid,
and the order of the plates. The order it
1777, with new editions in Madrid, 18oi0,
gives is, in fact, more rigidly chronological
than that of the usual text, and if it could
and Valencia, 1815), adds still further weight
to this view.12 Lafuente Ferrari, collating
be argued that Goya had this particular seand developing the conclusions of earlier
quence in mind when preparing the platescritics, claims that no less than fifteen or
of the
at least before numbering them-there
original set of thirty-three plates can be
traced to Moratin's Historical Letter.x3 And
in
sobre el origen
y progresos de la fiestas de toros en Espania,
fact two more borrowings can probably
be1777 (B8 v and Cx r).
Madrid,
15 The manuscript description of this plate in the
added to this count. Plate 13, which repre-
Ashmolean Museum copy of the Tauromaquia reads
sents "A Spanish nobleman on horseback
"El esforzado Mamdn vuelca un toro en la de Madrid".
breaking lances without the assistance
of
Cf. Moratin,
op. cit. (C8 r). See below for details of
chulos", could well portray, to judge from
the
the Ashmolean
copy of the Tauromaquia.
It is difficult to say when exactly Douce acquired
vaguely seventeenth-century dress of 16
the
the copy of the Tauromaquia. In the "Transcript of
rider, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, whom
Douce's Dairy of Antiquarian Purchases 1803-34" in
Moratin mentions as killing two bulls
thewith
Bodleian Library (MS. Douce d. 63), there is a
two lances at the wedding of Charlescurious
II in entry under Ist March 1828 which may conceivably refer to Goya's work. It reads: "Spanish rules
I679, or Don Bernardino Canal, who fought
of... illd by Aroya", which could be a transcription
bulls in the manner depicted in the presence
of "Spanish rules of bull-fighting ill[ustrated] by
of the King in I725.-4 And Plate 16, Goya"-a
which possible description of the work. On the
other hand, not all Douce's purchases were entered in
the
10 The advertisement in the Diario is quoted
byDiary and he may have bought the Tauromaquia
earlier. He bought two copies of Goya's Caprichos in
SAnchez Cant6n, op. cit. I Ii. The Gaceta announce-
I818
ment appeared on 31 December I816 and is in
noand 1825, and had long been interested in bull-
significant way different from that in the Diario. fighting prints. He acquired a French print entitled
Course de Taureaux a Cuenca (Quito) in June, 1804, and
11 Cf. Toros, p. 859 et seq.
possessed
a tinted set of Antonio Carnicero's Coleccidn
12 Cf. Toros, p. 767. Valerian von Loga, "Juan
de
de had
las principales suertes de una corrida de toros as well as
la Encina", Ventura Bargtids and Sinu6s Urbiola
all mentioned Moratin in connection with the Taurosome smaller imitations of that series (Bodleian
Library, Douce Prints, E. I. 4 (251-263) ). I must
maquia before Lafuente.
thank Mr. Giles Barber of the Bodleian and Mrs. C. A.
18 Cf. Toros, p. 768 et seq. The plates in question are
Nos. I, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, II, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 27. Gunn of the Fine Arts Library in the Ashmolean for
invaluable assistance in my Douce researches.
14 Cf. NicolAs Fernandez de Moratin, Carta histdrica
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t
A NEW VIEW OF GOYA'S TAUROMAQUIA 123
que sehis
celebraron
might be grounds for supposing that
de-alli, por el nacimiento de su hijo
I. (1o)
partures from it had some specialFelipe
purpose.
Vn caballero
By courtesy of the AshmoleanXIII.
Museum
I en plaza quebrando re-
joncillos. (13)
quote the manuscript in full here, distinguish-
ing the order it gives from the usual
XIV. Desjarrete
one byde la canalla, con lanzas,
medias-lunas, banderillas y otras armas.
(12)to the
which follow the descriptions refer
XV. Elnormal
diestrisimo Estudiante de Falces, emPlates to which they correspond in the
bozado burlando
order. It will be seen that "Palenque
que al toro con sus quiebros.
(14)
hacia la canalla" (No. XI in the manuscript--
Roman numerals. The Arabic numbers
XVI.chronoEl insigne Martincho, poniendo banNo. 17 normally) is in its proper
logical position-although the use of the
term
derillas
al quiebro.del
(I5) mismo Martincho en
XVII.
Temeridad
la canalla in the manuscript instead
of
los
plaza de Madrid. (18)
moros seems to fit the preliminary la
drawing
Otra
better than the plate itself;17 thatXVIII.
the Cid
is locura del propio Martincho en
placed logically before Charles V; and
that
la de
garagoza. (19)
XIX.and
El esforzado Mamon vuelca un toro en
the plates portraying "Martincho"
"Pepe-Hillo" are grouped appropriately
la detoMadrid. (I6)
gether.
XX. Ligereza y atrevimiento deJuanito Apifiani, alias el de Calahorra, tambien en la de
ASUNTOS DE LAS ESTAMPAS18
Madrid. (20)
I. El modo con que los antiguos espafiolesXXI. Desgracias acaecidas en el tendido de
cazaban los Toros a caballo en el campo. esta plaza, y muerte del Alcalde de Torrejon. (21)
(I)
XXII. Valor varonil de la celebre Pajuelera
II. Otro modo de cazarlos a pie. (2)
en la de Zaragoza. (22)
III. Los moros establecidos en Espafia, pres-
cindiendo de las supersticiones de su Alcoran, adoptaron esta caza y arte. (3)
IV. Comienzan los moros a capear los toros en
cercado, con el albornoz. (4)
V. Otro capeo de toros hecho por los moros
en plaza. (6)
VI. Los moros torean con harpones, 6 banderi-
llas. (7)
VII. Vn moro es cogido del toro, lidiando con
banderillas. (8)
VIII. El valiente moro Gazul lanzed, con galanteriay destreza. (5)
IX. El Cid Campeador, el primer caballo (sic)
espai~ol que alanced los toros con esfuerzo. (i i)
X. Otro caballero espafiol, despues de haber
perdido el caballo, mata el toro a pie con
summa gallardia. (9)
XI. Palenque que hacia la canalla con burros,
para defenderse de los toros. (17)
XII. Carlos V, mata un toro de una lanzada en
la plaza de Valladolid en las fiestas de toros,
17 In the preliminary drawing none of the men fight-
ing the bull are obviously Moors (No. 191 in Sanchez
Cant6n, Los dibujos de Goya, Madrid, I954, I).
18 In transcribing the manuscript I have kept
strictly to the spelling and accentuation of the original,
XXIII. Mariano Ceballos, alias el Yndio,
mata al toro desde su caballo. (23)
XXIV. El mismo Ceballos quiebra rejones montado sobre otro toro en la de Madrid. (24)
XXV. Caida de un Picador de su caballo
devajo del toro. (26)
XXVI. El celebre Fernando del Toro bari-
larguero, obligando a la fiera con su garrocha. (27)
XXVII. El esforzado Rendon, que murid en
esta suerte en la Plaza de Madrid. (28)
XXVIII. Perros. (25)
XXIX. Vanderillas de fuego. (31)
XXX. Dos grupos de picadores arrollados en
el suelo de seguida por un solo toro. (32)
XXXI. Pedro Romero matando a toro parado. (30)
XXXII. Pepe-Hillo, haciendo al toro el recorte.
(29)
XXXIII. Su desgraciada muerte en la plaza
de Madrid. (33)
The immediate problems which arise from
this manuscript are those of its date, source
and connections with the artist. Clearly, if it
is not earlier than the final numbering of the
series it can have little relevance for the study
XXI and XXVIII. Those which are closer to the
of the work: Goya could not possibly have
borne it in mind when preparing the plates.
Of course, the very fact that the numbering
Nos. IX, XII, and XIX.
an indication of earlier date, although it is
and italicized those portions of the comments which
differ from the printed text. The following are slightly
abbreviated by comparison with that text: Nos. XIII,
is different
from that finally adopted could be
wording of Moratin in the manuscript version
are
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124
NOTES
conceivable
such
a
l
seen that
as the expression of
the view that there
drawn
up
subsequently
was cruelty and coarseness in those who
w
sion. But there is at least one feature of the
fought and those who watched, the Tauromanuscript itself which gives us both more
maquia could be brought into line with Goya's
concrete evidence of its date and a hint about
other series of etchings, whose critical views
its source. It is evident that a thirty-fourth
and pessimism about human nature have long
plate figured on the original list and was been
cut recognized. Since Lafuente Ferrari has
out at some later date; a reference lightly
already hinted at the possibility of irony in
crossed through on the manuscript title-page
one of the plates, and since "Juan de la
Encina" and other critics have on occasion
reveals that the etching in question was titled
"el modo de poder volar los hombres conclaimed that Goya was purposely showing the
alas"-one later included with the Proverbios
bull-fight in its most barbaric and brutal
or Disparates. Now this plate is known to have
light, it is surprising that such a view of the
work
been added by Cedn Bermidez to the set
of has not been seriously considered be-
fore.22 But the tendency has been for critics
the Tauromaquia etchings sent to him by Goya
so that he could revise the titles.19 So it seems
to explain the element of barbarity in terms
quite likely that this manuscript itself came
of "realism", for it is difficult at first sight to
from CeAn Bermidez and represents reconcile
the
criticism of the sport with the tradiorder of plates which he suggested. Unfortutional-one might almost say legendarynately, it has not been possible to identifyidea
the of Goya as an aficionado, "el de los toros",
handwriting.
possibly even as a bull-fighter himself in his
time.23 Yet if there is evidence that Goya was
This theory, of course, in no way explains
why Goya did not adopt this order, which
anisenthusiastic follower of the spectacle and
obviously more satisfactory from the point
personalities
of
of the bull-ring as a young man,
there is little to suggest that he seriously held
view of logic and chronology. But since Goya
usually followed his friend's advice in matters
such views in his later life. It may be true
of wording and presentation,20 he must have
that in the portrait of Pedro Romero, Goya
was at pains to capture, as Jose Somoza
had some particularly good reason for not
doing so in this instance: the desire to achieve
suggests, the "uprightness, even the sensia special effect by means of disorder, for
tivity" of the bull-fighter, avoiding anything
example. It is the main contention of the
which might reflect "the heartless ferocity of
present article that this disorder is indeed
the gladiator's habits".24 But there can be
meaningful, and contributes to a satirical, no
notdoubt about the critical view of bulls
a historical, effect. The possibility that fighting
the
expressed in the series of lithographentitled Los toros de Burdeos, finished in 1825,
whole work is satirical cannot be lightly
only ten years after the Tauromaquia.25
thrown aside, as some critics have supposed.21
Considering the circumstances in which the
Such an interpretation of the Tauromaquia
work was produced, there is much to be said
would in fact justify most of the apparent
both for and against the satirical theory. The
anomalies mentioned at the beginning of this
article. It would give new significance to the
2* Lafuente Ferrari commenting on P1. 6 in Toros
grotesque appearance of Charles V and the
"N6tese que Goya, un tanto graciosa y gratuitaancient Spaniards. Other inaccuracies in writes:
the
mente, achaca en cierto modo a los moros esta suerte de
plates would add to the ironic and critical
frente por detrds" (my italics). For Goya's concentraeffect. Furthermore, if the work were to
be on barbarity, see "Juan de la Encina", Goya en
tion
19 Cf. Paul Lefort, op. cit., p. 88.
Zig-zag, Madrid, s.d., especially pp. 166, 167 and 175;
Hans Rothe, Francisco Goya Handzeichnungen, Miinchen,
20 Cedn Bermddez is generally supposed1943,
to have
P. 12; and Angel SAnchez Rivero, Los grabados
written the announcement of the Caprichos inserted
in Madrid, 1920, p. 49.
de Goya,
the Diario de Madrid for 6 February 1799; and23critics
Cf. for example Charles Yriarte, Goya, sa vie, son
usually suppose that he gave advice on the oeuvre,
Desastres
Paris, 1867, p. 120o ("s'il faut en croire ses amis
also, see August L. Mayer, Francisco de Goya,
London,
Ribera
et Velasquez (?), il s'est meme engag6 dans une
quadrilla, et a tue lui-meme") and Valentin Carderera's
1924, Pp. 95 and Ioo.
21 See, for example, Angel SAnchez Rivero,
Los
earlier
article "Frangois Goya, sa vie, ses dessins et ses
grabados de Goya, Madrid, 1920, p. 48 ("Eneaux-fortes"
la Tauro- in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 186o, VII,
maquia abandona Goya su visi6n de moralista
.. .");
p. 225
("Les courses de taureaux 6taient sa distraction
favorite
Jos6 Llampayas, Goya, Madrid, 1943 ("En estos
gra-. . ."). More scholarly detail in Toros, pp. 737
bados no hay humor ni sdtira . . . sino emoci6n
et seq.
y
verdad."); F. D. Klingender, Goya in the democratic
24Cf. "Recuerdos e impresiones de Don Jos6
tradition; London, 1948, p. 166 ("In this work
Goya
Somoza",
in Biblioteca de Autores Espanioles, LXVII,
was not concerned, like the author of Pan yp.Toros,
to
458, quoted
by Lafuente in Toros, p. 740.
condemn bull-fights as inhuman.").
25 Cf. Toros, pp. 844-5.
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A NEW VIEW OF GOYA'S TAUROMAQUIA 125
I8Io.
intellectuals were opposed to
fact that the Tauromaquia appeared
atMany
a time
when bull-fighting was particularly
bull-fighting
popular
at the time and several of Goya's
friends
andof
the subjects of his portraits like
seems to weigh against the satirical
view
the series. After the Peninsular War bullJovellanos, Tomas de Iriarte and Melkndez
fighting was looked upon as a truly national
Valdes, for instance, spoke out against it.29
Even if there is some doubt about the friendpastime, infinitely preferable to anything
which smacked of French influence, like
ship between Goya and Vargas Ponce, one
piano-playing or neo-classical drama. A
of the strongest critics of the bull-ring"Colecci6n de 12 estampas y una portada ...Lafuente Ferrari suggests that Goya was
que representan las principales suertes de una anxious to skimp his portrait30-it is certain
corrida de toros"-probably Carnicero's
series or one modelled on it-was advertised
that the artist must have heard many attacks
on the national sport by those he knew and
at least three times between 1815 and respected,
1817,
and have read others by men with
and therefore must have sold well.26 And
whom he had no personal contact.
Antonio de Capmany, who had set upStill
as more tangible support for the satirical
arbiter of taste for Spanish patriots in
his is to be found in the Ashmolean copy
theory
Centinela contra franceses, gave bull-fights
of his
the Tauromaquia, whose manuscript descrip-
official blessing in an Apologia de las fiestas
tions of the plates have already been quoted.
publicas de toros published in 1815. Although
The manuscript title-page is equally interestone or two intellectuals could still write
ing and seems to imply quite clearly that the
was intended to be critical. The actual
against the bulls at this juncture, towork
do so
openly would certainly have seemed lay-out
afran- and handwriting can be seen in the
cesado.
photograph reproduced with this note (see
On the other hand, it may have been
P1. the
I9b). The text reads as follows:
ripeness of the time from another point of
Treinta y tres Estampas
view-that of the likelihood of sale-which
que representan diferentes suertes y actitudes
made Goya publish a new series of etchings
on bull-fighting precisely when he did. Prints del arte de lidiar los Toros;
y una el modo de poder volar los hombres
and etchings in general were much in demand
con alas.
in the years which followed the war. The
Ynventadas,
disefiadas y grabadas al agua
Almacen de Estampas in the Calle Mayor
at
fuerte por el Pintor original
Madrid, which was ultimately to sell the
D. Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
Tauromaquia, frequently advertised its stock
En Madrid.
from 1815 onwards.27 And the Real Calcoi
Barbara
Diversion!
grafia resumed its activities in August 1816,
Estaofes la voz del Publico racional, religioso
offering Goya's and Castillo's engravings
eight paintings from the Royal Palace on 6 ilustrado de Espafia.
19 September, and Goya's Caprichos on the
26th of the same month.28
29 Cf. Toros, p. 140 et seq. It is very possible that
Goya's mentor CeAn Bermidez-an admirer of Jovel-
This kind of circumstantial evidence is,lanos
of and Vargas Ponce-was also opposed to bullfighting. And Leandro Fernindez de Moratin was
necessity, inconclusive, but if we accept Car-
derera's word for the slow elaboration of the
another friend of the painter probably against the
sport. He makes no mention of his father's Carta
Tauromaquia-very approximately between
histdrica in the life of Nicolds FernAindez de Moratin
I8oo and I815-there is perhaps more in the
which he wrote for the edition of the latter's Obras
pdstumas, Barcelona, 1821. And there is a passage in
period background to support the satirical
his Notes on England where he compares the idle young
theory. In the first place official policy in the
English gentlemen with "carniceros o toreros puestos
early years of the century was opposed to
en limpio" because of their "aspecto rdstico y amenaza-
bull-fighting. After a series of restrictions imdor". This comparison, following as it does a highly
critical description of "la juventud mAs decente de
posed during the reign of Charles III, the
Londres" suggests that Leandro was not as wholecorridas were banned altogether in 18o5 and
in favour of bull-fighting as was his father.
resumed only under Joseph Bonaparte heartedly
in80 Lafuente's
statement of the facts seems rather
biased (Toros, p. 764). Vargas did not know Goya
personally
before the painting of his portrait and asked
26Gaceta de Madrid, 1815, p. 604; xI86, p.
470;
1817, p. 408.
27 Cf. Gaceta de Madrid, x8x5, PP. 244, 276, 500, 548,
806, o108, 1030, o1090, 1238, 1358.
28 Cf. Gaceta de Madrid, pp. 899-900 (re-opening of
the Calcografia reported) ; p. 1o0o (notice of Goya and
Castillo's work); p. 1051 (advertisement of Caprichos).
his friend CeAn Bermddez for a letter of introduction
on 8th January x805. As a friend of Cedn one would
have expected Goya to receive him well. And, in fact,
there is nothing to show that Vargas was dissatisfied
with the painting, since he was one of the first to praise
Goya in print in his Proclama de un solterdn (x8o8). The
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126
If
NOTES
this
page,
were
only difficulty Goya's
is that we do not know how farow
orGoyaone
himself approved ofover
the contents of the
w
agreement
manuscriptwith
title-page, which is inCetn
the same
aim
of
the
handwriting etchings
as the Asuntos de las Estampas and
-unless we were to conclude that he dispresumably from the same source. In the
sociated himself by irony in the last lines
last from
resort, only the plates themselves and the
rational, enlightened and religious people
in
preliminary
drawings can tell us the real
nature
of the work.
Spain, which would be difficult to prove
from
his other works.31 Furthermore, apart
Infrom
fact in these drawings and etchings for
the final words themselves, the original
theintenTauromaquia there is no lack of detail of
tion to include in the series what was later to
an apparently critical nature. The broad,
be one of the Disparates would seem an addipicture-like frames which surround all but
tional pointer to the pessimistic conception eight
of
of the series may suggest no more than a
human nature underlying the series. There
certain detachment on the part of the artist. 33
is no obvious optimism in the flying menBut
of the evidence within the various plates is
"Modo de volar". Goya often associates flight
telling: the gap-toothed faces of the ancient
with the forces of evil, and flying in general
Spaniards in Plates I and 2 for instance; the
remained a folly or a symbol for man's futile
ludicrously dressed figure of Charles V in
Plate Io, with authentic beard and moustache
pride until the Romantics began to see somebut cross-bands and headgear not unreministhing admirable in ascent into the sky.32 The
cent of the French soldiers in the Desastres;34
details about the letter of introduction are given by
the unconcerned rider who, in Plate 25 and
Sinchez Cant6n, Vida y obras de Goya, Madrid, 1951,
the preliminary drawing for it, turns his back
p. 81.
eloquently on the carnage of the dogs;35
31 In particular Goya's idealistic view of Reason can
be adequately supported by reference to the Caprichosespecially No. 45-and to the drawing with the caption
"Divina Raz6n, no deges ninguno" (SAnchez Cant6n,
Los dibujos de Goya, Madrid, 1954, II, No. 380).
32 The interpretation of No. 4 of the Disparates
presents some difficulties. Cam6n Aznar in his "Los
Disparates" de Goya y sus dibujos preparatorios, Barcelona,
1951, p. 61, suggests that it is not really a Disparate at
all. He inclines towards the same idealistic and
volar", of which there is a copy in the LAzaro collection at Madrid. Finally, in the Disparates themselves,
Goya again uses flying to suggest violent passions in
No. 5 ("Disparate volante"), in which an evil-looking
bird bears a horseman into the blackness. Admittedly
it would be wrong to equate "Modo de volar" with the
man-into-beast etchings which preceded it. Nevertheless, Goya's earlier treatment of flying, and the night-
quality of the Disparates as a group, suggest that
Romantic approach to the work as Blamiremare
Young
thelatter
more pessimistic interpretation is nearer the truth.
(The Proverbs of Goya, London, 1923, p. 55). The
sees the winged figure in the foreground as "a muscular,
33 The plates without frames are Nos. I9, 23, 27, 28,
fearless, clean-living man, with strong resolute 29,
features,
31 and 32. No. 14 has only a very narrow frame.
As head".
will be seen, these are the ones which Lefort
determined mouth and well-shaped intellectual
picked out as stylistically different from the rest. Since
For him this figure represents "the higher development
plates
of humanity that Goya knew"; all the flyingthe
men
are dated 1815 are among them, and since they
areIn
uniformly
darker in tone than the rest, it is tempt"fixed by the same enthusiasm for discovery".
fact
there is absolutely nothing to support this kinding
of to
view.
place them later. They appear more obviously
dark in
spirit also, and contain some of the most
The etching makes no overt statement about
the
barbaric-looking bull-fighters. At the same time it
morals ("clean-living") or the aspirations ("enthusiasm
cannot
be said that Goya's critical approach is confor discovery") of the men depicted: Blamire
Young
fined to
probably finds them because they are the qualities
hethem (i.e. is the result of second thoughts).
seems to admire in Goya and Spain, whose "inspired
Nos. 2, I2 and 26 are equally direct in underlining the
brutality
and magnificent brutality" he singles out for praise
in and coarseness of the features of the bull-
his dedication. On the other hand there is little obvious
fighters.
basis for the unidealistic view of the plate-the "inky 34 Cf. Desastres Pls. 3 ("Lo mismo") and 31 ("Fuerte
menace" which Aldous Huxley, for instance, has seen cosa es!") for French soldiers with cross-bands and
in the background (cf. his Foreword to The Complete furry headgear respectively. Other parallels with
Etchings of Goya, New York, 1943, P. 14). Nevertheless, the Desastres have already been noted by critics. Since
when we compare the plate with others by Goya which Gautier's article in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Goya's
treat flying subjects, Huxley's "menacing" view seems Moors have often been associated with the Mamelukes,
more probable than Cam6n Aznar and Young's
"higher development of humanity" conception. In the
Caprichos, for instance, apart from the plates which
associate flying with witchcraft and evil, we find men
turned into eagle-like birds of prey by reason of their
which figure in related paintings if not in the Desastres
themselves. And Lafuente Ferrari has connected
P1. 8 of the Tauromaquia with one of the preliminary
drawings for the series (cf. Toros). It is perhaps worth
noting that some of the men in the group at the left of
passions and sensuality (No. 72, "No te escapards"). the preliminary drawing for P1. I7 of the Tauro-
And in the Desastres, bird-men are again essentially evil maquia are not unlike French soldiers. Such apparent
and predatory, as in Nos. 71 ("Contra el bien general") parallels would certainly tend to accentuate the sense
and 72 ("Las resultas"). No. 72, indeed, is slightly of human barbarity in the Art of bull-fighting for Goya's
similar in its treatment of patterns of black wings, to
the black-on-white-background version of "Modo de
contemporaries.
*3 A similar figure reappears in P1. 36 C and its
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A NEW VIEW OF GOYA'S TAUROMAQUIA 127
possibly also the comic way in which
experts
the "idea
of the origins, progress and present
state of bull-fighting" which was supposed to
be self-evident
in the work. But the critical
Plate 30 ;36 certainly the distorted and
barbaric faces of bull-fighters and assistants
in
view apparently
expressed would hardly have
Plates I8, 19, 24, 26, 28, 31 and 32: allescaped
these Goya's enlightened friends.
seem to imply criticism of the people involved.
The advantages to the present-day reader
Finally the treatment of the bull itself,
nowview of the Tauromaquia are that it
of this
pathetically cornered or beaten, now provides
heroic- a unifying force for the work, which
ally scattering the crowd in the tendido enables
or lay- it to be fitted more easily into the
ing low Pepe-Hillo, helps to underline
the pattern of Goya's etchings. Lafuente
general
artist's apparent attack on humans in
and three phases are reduced to one, and
Ferrari's
around the bull-ring.
his theory that Goya was expressing his revulSuch factors as these seem to the present
sion from everyday life by escaping into the
writer to add considerable weight to the
pastevican be replaced by the view that he was
dence of the Ashmolean copy. They attacking
cannot the behaviour and nature of manall be explained away in terms of the realism,
kind in much the same way as in the Caprichos,
lack of documentation or poor attention
to and later Disparates.38 If accepted,
Desastres
detail of the artist. Clearly the fact that
there
the
view would suggest that the Tauromaquia
was general support for bull-fightingisat
the nearer to the searing attack of the
much
time of the work's publication may have
led
Toros
de Burdeos in conception than to the
Goya to revise slightly the extent of his
critipicturesque
earlier bull-fighting paintings.
cism and to avoid such overt references to
Above all, it would give the Tauromaquia a
satirical ends as that of the manuscript titlemore universal significance than has generally
tell us Pedro Romero holds his sword in
been
page. Some of the etchings seem more
allowed.39
temperate than their preliminary drawings ;37
and the advertisement for the series omits,
perhaps prudently, to say what exactly was
38 Already
NIGEL GLENDINNING
in 1867, Yriarte, referring to the artist of
the etchings, could write "I1 n'y a pas dans Goya un
preliminary drawing. It is interesting to contrast these philosophe en belle humeur . . . il y a un satirique
scenes with Carnicero's treatment of the same subject ardent, qui s'attaque A tout et A tous, toujours pr&t A
in his Coleccidn de las principales suertes de una corrida de mordre, mais pour faire une morsure empoisonn6e."
toros. Carnicero shows the bull erect in the act of toss(Goya, Paris, 1867, p. 102.) The theory that the series
ing a dog with his horns, and trampling another under
of etchings were all related to crises in the life of Goya
foot, while other dogs and men look on. Goya, on the
was first advanced by Manuel G6mez-Moreno in his
other hand, shows the bull crouching down, with head
article "Las crisis de Goya" in the Revista de la Biblioteca,
low, surrounded by aggressive and apparently large
Archivoy Museo, 1935, I. So far as Goya's view of bulldogs-altogether a more sympathetic and tragic treatfighting in the other series of etchings is concerned, it
ment of the bull's position.
is interesting to note that he uses it as an allegory for
36 Lafuente does not accept Bargiit's criticism human
of
barbarity in the Caprichos (77, "Unos a otros"),
Goya's P1. 30 (Archivo, p. 205). In fact, the positionillustrating
of
the way in which men struggle bitterly and
the hand is not very different from that of the matador
unceasingly for superiority over others. In the Dis-
in P1. X of Carnicero's series.
parates, also, we find a similar conception of bulls to
"7 This is not always the case: the increased detail
that of the Tauromaquia. The two animals which are
of the faces in Pls. I8, 19, 20, 26 and 31, adds tolooking towards us in No. 21, "Disparate de toritos",
their critical force. But the figure with the sword is
have much the same expression of fear in their eyes as
more violent in the drawing for P1. 3 than in the etchthe bull in Pl. 3 of the Tauromaquia. The blackness
ing, although the bull is less obviously suffering; the
around the bulls and the animal on the right falling
Spanish nobleman in the drawing for Pl. 9 is more
helplessly into the void reinforces the view that their
bizarre than in the plate itself; there is more sense of
situation, here as in the Tauromaquia, is basically tragic.
violence in the drawing for P1. 12 than in the etching; 9 Cf. Aldous Huxley, Foreword to The Complete
less urbanity in the face of the nobleman in the drawing
Etchings of Goya, New York, 1943, p. I I. ("For the non-
for P1. 13; a more vapid expression on the face of "la
Spaniard the plates . . . will probably seem the least
c6lebre Pajuelera" in the drawing for P1. 22.
interesting of Goya's etchings . .")
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