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| title page of Pepe's book on bull fighting |
Salvete Omnes,
let us travel a bit in time and space - to the sunny Spain during the rule of the Bourbon kings, before the armies of Progress arrived with Napoleonic standards and left Spanish lands in shambles for the most part of the XIX century.
It is the story of one famously popular Spanish XVIII century torero who had fought the bulls in the Spain's bull rings, wrote a book, published in 1796, about the art of la tauromaquia (
corrida de toros) and then they said a 'toro bravo' he himself had chosen killed him in the 'plaza de toros' in Madrid.
And Francisco Goya created several print
showing this torero (above and below el torero in death and in the link Pepe Hillo in action) - part of a series of prints known as L
a Tauromaquia.
Pepe-Hillo or rather José Delgado Guerra is considered as one of the creators of the modern Spanish bull-fighting, along with
Pedro Romero and
Costillares.
He was killed by a brave bull called Barbudo in front of many spectators including Her Majesty the Queen
Maria Louisa on May 11, 1801 in Madrid.
two Spanish prints showing his actions and untimely demise
Prints from his book La Tauromaquia o Arte de Torear - showing horses,
picadores and the removal of the killed toro bravo
.. vae victis
Valete!
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