Antes de la corrida

Painted on panel in 1871, this bullfight preparation scene captures the charged atmosphere backstage before a corrida — a subject Fortuny returned to repeatedly as a way of examining Spanish culture through a specifically Andalusian lens. Fortuny painted bullfight subjects not as a tourist spectacle but as something close to insider observation; he spent extended periods in Seville and knew the culture of the arena with the same intimacy he brought to Moroccan subjects. The small panel format encourages a sketch-like energy that suits the nervous anticipation of pre-fight preparation. Housed in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, the work belongs to a diaspora of Fortuny's paintings scattered across European and South American collections through the intense market activity his posthumous fame generated. The bullfight theme connects Fortuny to later artists from Manet to Picasso who used the corrida as a lens for Spanish identity.

Panel support allows Fortuny to exploit smooth traction for fine passages while using dry, dragged strokes for the gold and silk embroidery of the matador's suit. Scale is kept intimate, encouraging close examination of the costume's jewel-like surface. Warm interior light unifies the figures without resorting to theatrical chiaroscuro.