Another way of hunting on foot, plate two from The Art of Bullfighting

Art Historical Context

Francisco José de Goya yientes, one of Spain's greatest Romantic artists, captured the raw drama of bullfighting in his seminal series *La Tauromaquia* (*The Art of Bullfighting published in 1816. *Another Way of Hunting on Foot*, plate two from this set of 33 etchings created between 1814 and 1816, depicts a tense moment in the ring where matadors on foot confront a charging bull. Goya, deafened by illness and disillusioned by Spain's Napoleonic turmoil, elevated bullfighting from mere spectacle to a profound metaphor for human struggle, mortality, and national identity. This print showcases Goya's mastery of innovative printmaking techniques: etching for precise lines, burnished aquatint for velvety tonal gradations evoking dust and shadow, drypoint for expressive burrs, and burin for sharp details on ivory laid paper. At just 19.9 × 30.9 cm, its intimate scale invites close viewing, revealing the bull's fury and fighters' precarious grace. As a key work in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings collection, it exemplifies how Goya transformed technical virtuosity into emotional power, influencing modern artists like Picasso. Culturally, *La Tauromaquia* immortalized bullfighting's rituals amid Spain's recovery from war, blending heroism with tragedy. Goya's unflinching gaze—neither glorifying nor condemning—makes this etching a timeless window into 19th-century passion and peril.

About the Artist

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes · 1746–1828

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746, in the small Aragonese village of Fuendetodos, Spain, to José Benito de Goya, a master gilder, and Gracia de Lucientes. The fourth of six children in a modest lower-middle-class family, Goya received a basic education before beginning his artistic training at age 14 under the local painter José Luzán y Martínez in Zaragoza, where he sp...