Pedro Romero killing the halted bull, plate 30 from The Art of Bullfighting1814/16, published 1816
The great matador Pedro Romero stands calmly before a bull that has stopped dead, ready to deliver the final sword thrust. More about this work
About this work
The great matador Pedro Romero stands calmly before a bull that has stopped dead, ready to deliver the final sword thrust. Romero, from Ronda, was the most celebrated bullfighter of the late eighteenth century, admired for his composure, and Goya, a lifelong enthusiast of the bullring, painted his portrait. This is plate 30 of La Tauromaquia, Goya’s series of thirty-three etchings on the history and art of bullfighting, published in 1816. Aquatint lays in the tones of the arena, while the figures stand out in crisp etched line.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
A work made of etching, aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Aquatint
- Resin dust is fused to the plate and bitten with acid, so the plate prints areas of tone, like a wash, rather than lines.
- Drypoint
- Lines scratched straight into the plate with a needle throw up a ridge of metal, the burr, which holds ink and prints a soft, furred line. The burr wears down, so early impressions are the richest.
- Etching
- The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
Francisco Goya
Spanish, 1746–1828 · Born in Fuendetodos; died in Bordeaux.
Goya began with tapestry designs for the royal factory in Madrid and rose to become first painter to the Spanish court under Charles IV. After a serious illness left him deaf in the 1790s, his work grew darker and more personal. His etched series, Los Caprichos and The Disasters of War, satirise folly and record the atrocities of the Peninsular War, and he painted the Black Paintings directly on the walls of his own house. He spent his last years in exile in Bordeaux.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1927.3378.30
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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