Picadores

Salvete Omnes,
some more images of the violent world of the picadores in paint, drawing and print & one old photo

all images are from Wiki Commons
Valete!

Pepe Hillo

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 La 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!