the bullring
In 2008, Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Asturias opened the new Painting and Print Rooms at the Real Maestranza de Caballería Bullring in Seville.
To illustrate what a visit to the Real Maestranza Bullring means, few testimonies are more eloquent than the words of the architect Rafael Moneo, taken from the 29th Bullfighting Proclamation of which he is the author, invited by the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla.
“La Maestranza is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful monuments in the city (…) one of those exceptional buildings, capable of defying the passage of time on its own and which make Seville what it is. Is there perchance a more beautiful setting than the Maestranza?
Overlooking the river, La Maestranza has seen the waters of the Guadalquivir flow without feeling the passage of time. And if the Giralda bridges cultures, La Maestranza reminds us that there is always a place for the brave, that our fate is not written in stone.
That La Maestranza is and has been the bullring par excellence, the one that best represents what Bullfighting is capable of giving, is beyond dispute (…) it has always been an architectural work with a life of its own.
To speak of La Maestranza’s architecture is to speak of its proportions, of the relationship between the bullring, the stands and the arcades. Upon entering La Maestranza, one is always surprised by the spaciousness of its generous bullring, which is surely why we feel immediately conveyed to the open countryside, although we are aware of being in the heart of a metropolis like Seville (…) the Puerta del Príncipe is the unexpected parenthesis in the city which, as I said, allows us to feel once more the air of the pastures where the bulls are bred, the open countryside. At how many other bullrings does this happen? I would venture to say none.
The bullring extends into the front row seats so that the well-painted boards of the barrier, which form the refuge, give it the appearance of a graceful ribbon. The ribbon that lines the bullring, adding a note of colour that is very hard to find in any other bullring. La Maestranza Bullring. This is no mean feat. It is the universe of the bullfighter, who feels it as such when he sees that his convexity reveals to him what the poet called “the integrity of the planet” (…) The bullfighter feels the roundness of the Earth (…) The La Maestranza bullring that all those who dreamt of being bullfighters have stepped out on. Pepe Hillo and Pedro Romero, Paquiro and Cúchares, Frascuelo and Lagartijo, Joselito and Belmonte….”
SECTORS
The tour of the bullring is rounded off with a visit to the Exhibition Hall, which comprises two clearly differentiated sectors. The first section visited contains an exhibition of paintings and a selection of bullfighting prints from the La Maestranza collection, one of the finest in the world. These rooms were opened by Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Asturias on 21 November 2008.
THE PAINTING ROOM
The Painting Room houses a collection of oil paintings from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, mainly from the Romantic period, which make up an important collection of paintings on bullfighting themes. Scenes in the countryside and in the bullring, bullfighters and figures related to the world of bullfighting are depicted in works by Gutiérrez de la Vega, Eugenio Lucas, José Elbo, Joaquín and Valeriano Domínguez Bécquer, José Jiménez Aranda, Horace Vernet, John Philip and Nicolás Ruiz de Valdivia, among others. The anteroom features books and objects, sketches by Mariano Benlliure and oil paintings by painters such as Roberto Domingo, Mariano Fortuny and Carmen Laffón. On the opposite wall there is a display case containing prints from the famous series “Arte de torear de Pepe Hillo” (1804). Above, an anonymous 18th century portrait of the legendary bullfighter Joaquín Rodríguez, “Costillares”.
PRINT ROOM
The Print Room houses a select repertoire of prints, lithographs and engravings. Almost all the historical bullfighting series from the 18th and 19th centuries are represented, including one of the earliest known images of a bullfight, “Corrida caballeresca”, by J. Stradan (1578). The exhibition opens with a complete series by Luis Fernández Noseret (c.1790) and continues with examples from the series by the court painter Antonio Carnicero (1790), whose later influence can be traced as far as Goya. This is followed by prints belonging to Romantic series by European authors such as John H. Clark (1813), Victor Adam (c. 1834), Wilhem Gaïl (c. 1835), W. Lake Price (1852), Gustavo Doré (c. 1863) or Pharamond Blanchard (1835). The adjoining room contains twelve prints of Francisco de Goya’s “Tauromaquia” from the third edition of this legendary series of etchings, made in Paris in 1876.
EXHIBITION HALL
The tour of the bullring is complemented by a visit to the Exhibition Hall, which consists of two clearly differentiated sectors. The first section visited features an exhibition of paintings and a selection of bullfighting prints belonging to the Real Maestranza’s collection, one of the most important in the world. These rooms were opened by Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Asturias on 21 November 2008.
COGIDA DE MUERTE (Pepe Hillo)
This is followed by a series of 19th century bullfighting-themed paintings, such as “Cogida de muerte de Pepe Hillo”, by Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (1817-1870), and a section devoted to bullfighting in the era of Belmonte and Joselito el Gallo, with bronze works by Mariano Benlliure and other artists, as well as various bullfighting posters. The tour ends with the most modern collections, a varied repertoire of bullfighting memorabilia: bullfighters’ costumes, capes, posters, bulls’ heads and paintings by contemporary artists.
The visit proceeds through the Patio de Caballos to a highly spiritual place, the Capilla de los Toreros (“Bullfighters’ Chapel”), which is presided over by an altarpiece of the Virgin of the Rosary, who is highly venerated by bullfighters, and to whom they have donated numerous votive offerings.
Visit to the bullring
In 2008, Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Asturias opened the new Painting and Print Rooms at the Real Maestranza de Caballería Bullring in Seville.
To illustrate what a visit to the Real Maestranza Bullring means, few testimonies are more eloquent than the words of the architect Rafael Moneo, taken from the 29th Bullfighting Proclamation of which he is the author, invited by the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla.
SECTORS
The tour of the bullring is rounded off with a visit to the Exhibition Hall, which comprises two clearly differentiated sectors. The first section visited contains an exhibition of paintings and a selection of bullfighting prints from the La Maestranza collection, one of the finest in the world. These rooms were opened by Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Asturias on 21 November 2008.
THE PAINTING ROOM
The Painting Room houses a collection of oil paintings from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, mainly from the Romantic period, which make up an important collection of paintings on bullfighting themes.
PRINT ROOM
The Print Room houses a select repertoire of prints, lithographs and engravings. Almost all the historical bullfighting series from the 18th and 19th centuries are represented, including one of the earliest known images of a bullfight, “Corrida caballeresca”, by J. Stradan (1578).
EXHIBITION HALL
The tour of the bullring is complemented by a visit to the Exhibition Hall, which consists of two clearly differentiated sectors.
The tour ends with the most modern backgrounds, a repertoire of a varied nature from the bullfighting imaginary: bullfighter costumes, capes, posters, bulls’ heads and paintings by contemporary authors.
The visit proceeds through the Patio de Caballos to a highly spiritual place, the Capilla de los Toreros (“Bullfighters’ Chapel”), which is presided over by an altarpiece of the Virgin of the Rosary, who is highly venerated by bullfighters, and to whom they have donated numerous votive offerings.
