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Primary sourcePainting1825

The Bulls of Bordeaux

Francisco Goya · 1825

A series of four lithographs made by Francisco Goya in 1825 during his exile in France, showing bullfighting as public spectacle.

Goya created these lithographs himself in exile, showing his late-life artistic innovation and enduring interest in bullfighting.

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Etching-style print of a bullring: a bull charges at a man on a horse with a lance, while a fallen horse lies on the right and spectators fill the stands behind a wall in the upper left.
Francisco Goya, Bravo toro, from The Bulls of Bordeaux, 1825.

About this source

What it is

These four lithographs were produced by Francisco Goya in 1825 while he lived in exile in Bordeaux, France, with the help of master printer Cyprien Gaulon. The prints show scenes of bullfighting as popular entertainment, including a famous matador, a gored picador, a running of the bulls, and a divided bullring.

Why it matters

Goya made the prints in old age, nearly blind, after fleeing political repression in Spain following the restoration of absolute rule under Ferdinand VII. The series shows him experimenting boldly with the still-new medium of lithography, working in an unusually loose, expressive style quite different from the neat lithographs typical of his time. His companion Antonio Brugada left a detailed account of how Goya worked on the stones.

Look closer

  • How does Goya use loose, sketchy marks rather than careful detail to show movement and violence?
  • What does the choice of subject tell us about Goya's lifelong interests late in his career?
  • Why might an elderly, exiled artist choose to depict such energetic, dangerous scenes?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Francisco Goya on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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