The perspective of the bull depends on where one is situated. For Hemingway, bullfighting is a metaphor for the intricate but often pre-determined relationships between men and women replete with sacrificial qualities and doused with pagan animalism. From a more detached perspective, there are certain conventions pertinent which forbid cruelty to animals; the Hemingways could secretly put firecrackers in frogs mouths. The bull is starved and annoyed before he enters the arena, and then men challenge him and stab him so the bull goes nutso . In this case, does the animal transcend the limits of his own being in being consumed so to speak. And is man using that animal energy to do something positive that can be shared to better the human condition? Doubtful.It seems like a perversion of Biblical sacrifice.
Read More:http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/110001405 ---After painting pictures inspired by the Spanish masters of the seventeenth century for six years, Manet finally took a trip to Spain in September 1865. He attended a bullfight on Sunday, September 3, 1865; one of the toreros was the illustrious Cayetano Sanz y Pozas (1821–1890). Only recently has Sanz been recognized in this, the first of the full-length figure paintings Manet completed after he studied the works of Velázquez in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. He painted the picture in Paris.---
Edouard Manet adored all things Spanish, a passion that survived even a visit to Spain itself, where he was revolted by the food and dirt. His Torrero Saluting, however, was painted in Paris, and despite the Met’s description, the torrero is his brother Eugene dressed up in the traditional “suit of lights” …
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