Un caballero espanol en plaza quebrando rejoncillos sin auxilio de los chulos (A Spanish Mounted Knight in the Ring Breaking Short Spears without the Help of Assistants)
in or before 1816
Medium
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin [first edition impression]
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.1632
Art Historical Context
Francisco Goya's *Un caballero español en plaza quebrando rejoncillos sin auxilio de los chulos* (A Spanish Mounted Knight the Ring Breaking Short Spears the Help of Assistants), in or before 181, is a thrilling plate from his renowned *Tauromaquia* series. This collection of 33 etchings celebrates the artistry and peril of Spanish bullfighting, a cultural spectacle Goya admired for its raw drama and display of human courage. As a master of Romanticism, Goya captured the intensity of the arena, blending heroism with the ever-present threat of death amid Spain's turbulent early 19th-century lan...
About the Artist
Francisco Goya
Francisco Goya, born on March 30, 1746, in the small Aragonese village of Fuendetodos, Spain, to a gilder father and a mother from a family claiming minor nobility, displayed artistic promise early. At age 14, he apprenticed under painter José Luzán y Martínez in Zaragoza, honing his skills by copying prints before working independently. After unsuccessful attempts to enter Madrid's Real Academia ...