El famoso Martincho poniendo banderillas al quiebro (The Famous Martincho Places the Banderillas Playing the Bull with the Movement of His Body)

El famoso Martincho poniendo banderillas al quiebro (The Famous Martincho Places the Banderillas Playing the Bull with the Movement of His Body) was created by Francisco Goya in 1816. This print is a virtuosic example of graphic art, utilizing a complex combination of etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, and burin to achieve dramatic depth and texture. The piece belongs to Goya’s influential series on bullfighting, La Tauromaquia, which documented the history, heroes, and specialized techniques of this key aspect of Spanish culture.

The print captures the legendary eighteenth-century bullfighter, Martincho, executing the dangerous banderillas al quiebro maneuver. This technique, translated as "playing the bull with the movement of his body," requires the bullfighter to stand stock-still until the charging animal is nearly upon him, then quickly side-step and place the darts as the bull passes. Goya emphasizes the intensity and mortal risk of the encounter through the bold contrasts inherent in the aquatint process. The dark, heavily inked background isolates the central figures—the agile man and the massive bull—highlighting the tension and the speed of the decisive moment.

As a key example of Spanish artistic output during the period spanning 1801 to 1825, this work contributes significantly to our understanding of early modern visual culture and the documentation of popular entertainment. Goya demonstrates his late-career focus on expressive realism rather than neoclassical idealization. The dramatic composition reinforces the narrative structure of the overall portfolio. Today, high-quality prints of this iconic masterwork are frequently available in the public domain due to their historical age. This particular first edition impression of El famoso Martincho poniendo banderillas al quiebro is held in the distinguished collection of the National Gallery of Art.