Label Type
Artist BioLabel
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes is regarded as one of the most influential Spanish artists of the late 18th to early 19th century. Although he was not born into a wealthy family, he was able to receive some formal art training through an apprenticeship when he was a boy. However it was his marriage to Josefa Bayeu, sister of the leading court painter in Spain, that benefited his career the most. The relationship gave Goya the opportunity to paint Rococo-style scenes used in royal tapestries. This led to commissions from aristocratic families and his appointment as the court painter for King Charles IV in 1789. A pivotal moment in Goya’s career was his loss of hearing in 1793, which would affect his state of mind throughout the rest of his life. Goya was a working painter during a time of great conflict between Spain and France. Later in Goya’s life his work began to portray darker and more horrifying imagery, amplified by his loss of hearing and observation of war-time atrocities. During his career he produced many works for aristocratic patrons, while also creating etchings of his own chosen subject matter.Label Type
Object LabelLabel
Translated into English, the title of this print reads: “The same Ceballos mounted on another bull breaks short spears in the ring at Madrid.” A part of the series La Tauromaquia, this print is one of 33 illustrating the history of bullfighting and the achievements of known bullfighters. Here, Goya depicts an epic feat by the torero (bullfighter) Mariano Ceballos, in which he confronts a bull while riding on another bull. The tonal variation of the background, which casts a shadow across the bottom, is the result of aquatint, an intaglio technique that achieves this effect by covering the metal printing plate with powdered rosin. When the areas not covered in rosin are exposed to acid, these differences in tonal values are created.