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The Celebrated Picador, Fernando del Toro, Draws the Fierce Beast on with His Pique
The Celebrated Picador, Fernando del Toro, Draws the Fierce Beast on with His Pique
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

The Celebrated Picador, Fernando del Toro, Draws the Fierce Beast on with His Pique

Artist (Spanish, 1746–1828)
Date1816
Mediumetching and aquatint on cream laid paper
Dimensionsplate: 24.3 × 34.8 cm (9 9/16 × 13 11/16 in.)
sheet: 32.2 × 44.5 cm (12 11/16 × 17 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineSarah C. Garver Fund
Object number1965.43
Label TextIn this carefully observed composition, Goya captured the celebrated torero Fernando del Toro demonstrating a posture called La suerte de varas—literally “luck of the lance.” The picador uses the lance to hold the charging bull away from his horse, piercing its shoulder and drawing blood. Then he stands back to measure the bull’s ferocity, and capability for the fight to come. At Bordeaux, in 1824, Goya reworked this composition in a painting now at the Getty Museum. Like his lithographs, that canvas amplifies the tension and energy of the moment.ProvenanceCraddock and Barnard, London, UK
On View
Not on view
Image Not Available for Two Teams of Picadors Thrown One After the Other by a Single Bull (Dos grupos de picadores arrollados de seguida por un solo toro) (plate 32)
Two Teams of Picadors Thrown One After the Other by a Single Bull (Dos grupos de picadores arrollados de seguida por un solo toro) (plate 32)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Image Not Available for The Very Skillful Student of Falces, Wrapped in His Cape, Tricks the Bull With the Play of His Body (El diestrísimo estudiante de Falces, embozado burla al toro con sus quiebros) (plate 14)
The Very Skillful Student of Falces, Wrapped in His Cape, Tricks the Bull With the Play of His Body (El diestrísimo estudiante de Falces, embozado burla al toro con sus quiebros) (plate 14)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Image Not Available for Mariano Ceballos, Alias The Indian, Kills the Bull from His Horse (Mariano Ceballos, alias El Indio, mata el toro desde su caballo) (plate 23)
Mariano Ceballos, Alias The Indian, Kills the Bull from His Horse (Mariano Ceballos, alias El Indio, mata el toro desde su caballo) (plate 23)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Image Not Available for A Spanish Knight Kills the Bull After Having Lost His Horse (Un caballero Español mata un toro despues perdido el caballo) (plate 9)
A Spanish Knight Kills the Bull After Having Lost His Horse (Un caballero Español mata un toro despues perdido el caballo) (plate 9)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Image Not Available for The Moors Use Donkeys as a Barrier to Defend Themselves Against the Bull Whose Horns Nave Been Tipped With Balls (Palenque de los Moros hecho con burros para defenderse del toro embolado) (plate 17)
The Moors Use Donkeys as a Barrier to Defend Themselves Against the Bull Whose Horns Nave Been Tipped With Balls (Palenque de los Moros hecho con burros para defenderse del toro embolado) (plate 17)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Iluvia del Toros (Rain of Bulls)
Iluvia del Toros (Rain of Bulls)
Francisco de Goya
about 1816
The Forceful Rendon Stabs a Bull with the Pique, from which Pass He Died in the Ring at Madrid
The Forceful Rendon Stabs a Bull with the Pique, from which Pass He Died in the Ring at Madrid
Francisco de Goya
1816
A Picador is Unhorsed and Falls Under the Bull
A Picador is Unhorsed and Falls Under the Bull
Francisco de Goya
1816
Two Teams of Picadors thrown one after another by a single Bull (plate 32)
Two Teams of Picadors thrown one after another by a single Bull (plate 32)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Image Not Available for The Same Man Throws a Bull in the Ring at Madrid (El mismo vuelca un toro en la plaza de Madrid) (plate 16)
The Same Man Throws a Bull in the Ring at Madrid (El mismo vuelca un toro en la plaza de Madrid) (plate 16)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Image Not Available for The Cid Campeador Spearing Another Bull (El Cid Campeador lanceando otro toro) (plate 11)
The Cid Campeador Spearing Another Bull (El Cid Campeador lanceando otro toro) (plate 11)
Francisco de Goya
1816
Image Not Available for The Spirited Moor Gazul is the First to Spear Bulls According to Rules (El animoso moro Gazul es el primero que lancéo toros en regla), (plate 5)
The Spirited Moor Gazul is the First to Spear Bulls According to Rules (El animoso moro Gazul es el primero que lancéo toros en regla), (plate 5)
Francisco de Goya
1816