La Novillada Young bulls race
Artist	Francisco de Goya
Year	1780[1]
Medium	Oil painting, tapestry cartoon
Movement	Rococo

La novillada ("The Running of the Young Bulls"),^[2] is a painting by Francisco de Goya, painted in 1780, when he himself was trying his hand at bullfighting (sacripant period). It is part of the fourth series of tapestry cartoons for the Prince of Asturias' antechamber in the Pardo Palace.

Context

Goya was an aficionado, and frequented the world of bullfighting, considered at the time to be "the refuge of scoundrels where ruffians and adventurers are at ease".3 He describes La Novillada as a cape pass involving several young men. He describes the painting La Novillada as a cape pass involving several young men, but without naming himself, even though he more or less portrayed himself4. He subsequently painted several portraits of bullfighters, the best-known of which is that of Pedro Romero5.

History

All the paintings in the fourth series were destined for the antechamber of the Prince of Asturias, the future Charles IV and his wife Marie Louise de Parme, in the Pardo palace6. The painting was delivered to the Royal Tapestry Factory on January 24, 17807 and received by its director, Cornelio Vandergoten. A document dated October 2, 1777, whose provenance is unknown, states that the La Novillada tapestry was to hang on the south wall of the princes' antechamber next to another tapestry: El Resguardo de tabacos8.

It was considered lost until 1869, when the canvas was discovered in the basement of the Royal Palace in Madrid by Gregorio Cruzada Villaamil, and was returned to the Prado Museum in 1870 by the ordinances of January 19 and February 9, 1870, where it is exhibited in room 917. The painting was first mentioned in the Museo del Prado catalog in 18768.

The series was composed of El Ciego de la guitarra, El Columpio, Las Lavanderas, La Novillada, El Resguardo de tabacos, El Muchacho del pájaro et El Niño del árbol, Los Leñadores, El Majo de la guitarra, La Cita, El Médico, El Balancín et deux cartons perdus, El Perro9^[3] et La Fuente10.^[4]

Description

It's a festival similar to Francisco Bayeu's Taureaux de Carabanchel. Historian José Camón Aznar sees a connection with Goya's childhood memories (when he tried his hand at bullfighting)11. It is said that the bright colors drove the weavers at the Royal Factory mad, as they were commissioned to create the tapestries based on Goya's sketch11.

The ensemble features a group of young people in colorful costumes, and in the main figure, who turns his head towards the viewers, a portrait of the artist himself has been seen12. This is also what Claude Pelletier says: "A witness to his time, Goya was probably an amateur bullfighter in his youth. Here, he has portrayed himself in red costume, as the main character in this humble novillada13.

The bright colors are characteristic of Goya's "first period", as is the abundance of Majos who were, depending on the occasion, either commoners or noblemen dressed as such. Édouard Manet described them in one of his best-known paintings, Jeune Homme en costume de majo. The majos and majas were known for their sartorial pursuits inspired by popular customs14.

However, Cornelio Vandergoten, the director of production, gives a different version of Goya's interpretation of the scene. According to him, the figures here are in a sorto position6.

The Swing and La Novillada could represent a passage written by Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, Leandro's father, in the clandestine poem Arte de las putas15 :

" Flee the right-handed one so accursed custom

always give the hurgonazo in passing

to Cándido inciting, the great bullfighter

which, by the prompt, is clean his thrust "

- Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, Art of the whores (II, 135-138)

"

Run away from this good habit so cursed

always give a blow of the saddle in passing

inciting Candide, the great bullfighter

whose estocade is suddenly clean

"

See also

• La Tauromaquia
• Francisco Goya's tapestry cartoons

References

Bibliography

Notes