A Matador

Manet painted this portrait of the matador Cayetano Sanz y Pozas in 1866 or 1867, after returning from a trip to Spain in 1865. It was the first full-length figure painting he completed after studying the work of Velazquez in Madrid. The matador stands full-length, facing the viewer, in the traje de luces, the bullfighter's costume of gold and pink. He holds a red cape in his left hand and a sword in his right. His pose is formal and frontal, with his weight evenly distributed. The background is a flat, dark brown, with no architectural or landscape setting. The canvas is roughly 67 by 44 inches, a vertical format suited to the full-length figure. Manet had traveled to Spain in August 1865, partly to escape the scandal of Olympia, which had been savaged by critics at that year's Salon. In Madrid he studied the paintings of Velazquez in the Prado and saw a bullfight featuring Cayetano Sanz, one of the most famous matadors of the period. He made sketches of Sanz in the ring and painted this portrait after returning to Paris. This painting was shown at Manet's solo exhibition in 1867, held in a pavilion he built near the Exposition Universelle. The exhibition was his response to being rejected by the official Salon. He showed around fifty paintings, including this matador portrait, The Dead Toreador, and several other Spanish subjects. The show was a critical failure but established Manet's independence from the Salon system. Oil on canvas, 171.1 by 113 centimeters. Manet used smooth, controlled strokes for the costume and broader marks for the background. The gold and pink of the traje de luces are the brightest passages in the painting, set against the dark background. The vertical format and rich colors of this portrait make it suitable for a room with dark walls or strong lighting. It works well in a dining room, study, or entryway. The 18x24 framed version in a black frame is the most versatile choice. The painting entered the Met's collection through the Havemeyer bequest in 1929. This is a public domain artwork (CC0), from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 24x36 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.