The Same Man Throws a Bull in the Ring at Madrid, plate 16 from The Art of Bullfighting Possibly 1814 - 1876

This etching by Francisco Goya captures a visceral moment in the bullring. We witness the raw power of man against beast. The central figure, a bullfighter, grapples directly with the bull, a dance of strength and vulnerability that is as old as the hills. Consider the image of the Minotaur, half-man, half-bull, a hybrid that embodies the primal urges and conflicts within us. Here, in Goya's rendering, the bull and the man mirror each other. The dark shading suggests that each is a reflection of the other, bound together in a deadly pas de deux. The distant spectators, are they watching a sport, or a sacrifice? This struggle is not just physical. It evokes the underlying tensions between civilization and nature, reason and instinct, life and death. As such, the image resonates far beyond the bullring. It is a timeless symbol, a violent clash that repeats itself across cultures and generations.