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A Matador

1866–67
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 810
The matador is the illustrious Cayetano Sanz y Pozas (1821–1890), who Manet saw in action during an 1865 trip to Spain—his only visit, despite a longstanding fascination with seventeenth-century Spanish art. This canvas, the first of the full-length figure paintings that Manet completed after studying the works of Velázquez in Madrid, was made upon his return to France. Unlike the artist’s previous depictions of bullfighters, Cayetano Sanz carries a proper red cape. Manet showed the picture, along with some twenty others on Spanish themes, at his solo exhibition in a pavilion adjacent to the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Matador
  • Artist: Edouard Manet (French, Paris 1832–1883 Paris)
  • Date: 1866–67
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 67 3/8 x 44 1/2 in. (171.1 x 113 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.52
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Cat and Flowers, Edouard Manet French, Etching and aquatint; third (final) state; posthumous edition
Cat and Flowers
Edouard Manet
1869
The Smoker (Le Fumeur), Edouard Manet French, Etching on blue laid paper, final state (II)
The Smoker (Le Fumeur)
Edouard Manet
1866–67
Boy with Soap Bubbles, Edouard Manet French, Etching, lavis aquatint, and roulette on laid paper, second state of four
Boy with Soap Bubbles
Edouard Manet
1867–69
The Smoker (Le Fumeur), Edouard Manet French, Etching and drypoint on blue laid paper, only state
The Smoker (Le Fumeur)
Edouard Manet
1879–82
The Water Drinker, Edouard Manet French, Etching and drypoint
The Water Drinker
Edouard Manet
1870–74

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