The Horseman forcing the bull with a spear(El picador obligando al toro con su pica) - Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso "La Tauromaquia"
May 1957 dimension: 20 x 30 cm

Etching aquatint with sugar, with hand-etching on copper beveled
printed on paper "Velin pour fil de Guarro" (with dual watermark)
single state
origin: • private art collection
Illustration n. XII of the text: José Delgado (alias Pepe Illo), La Tauromaquia or Arte de torear, Gustavo Gili -
Ediciones La Cometa, Barcelona 1959

The engraving depicts a scene similar to printing n. 10 of the same series, where less is nevertheless depicted
public. Continues the bloody phase of the bullfight, in which the picadors on horseback (in turn) the sfiancano
bull with a spear, while the bullfighters will guide the direction of charge with the hood. Meanwhile, the animal tries to
overthrow the horse. In hitting the bull, the picador uses the vara de picar, a sort of lance consists of a
wooden handle (about 180 cm long) and a steel tip forged pyramid with three sides, provided at the base
a disc which has the function of preventing the penetration of the handle in the animal's body. Despite the
scene is bloody, Picasso was able to make the elegance and lightness of the picador movements. The
iconographic reference to this incision is traceable in a famous print of Bullfighting of Goya
(1816): Strict Rendon stabs a bull with his pike.

More information in the annex