Dogs to the bull (Bullfighting C)

See How the ancient Spaniards hunted bulls on horseback in the countryside

Print showing the same subject as They throw dogs to the bull. In fact, this was probably the first version of the theme engraved by Goya, but he eventually discarded it because of the result obtained with the aquatint. He was not convinced by the way it turned out because there was too much bite and it became too dark.

As a result, he ruled out including it in the series, replacing it in the end with They throw dogs to the bull, which is a second, somewhat simpler version of the same theme, a view shared by authors such as Bagües, Lafuente Ferrari and Martínez-Novillo.

In Bagüés's view, moreover, the composition of the present print is similar to that of the substitute engraving, except that here there are more figures, specifically a group of labourers on the left who contemplate the fight between the dogs and the bull as they wait to be able to give the bull the final blow. Several later authors also comment on the coincidence of the composition between the two prints. The composition is centralised, with the figures standing out in the centre to capture the viewer's attention, thus avoiding scattering.

The work is also thematically related to a Goyaesque lithograph entitled Bull harassed by dogs, which also shows the unique bullfighting practice of throwing dogs at tame bulls, a practice that was eventually replaced by the use of fire banderillas, also reflected in the series in the print Fire flags. In turn, the work is linked to a drawing by Goya that also depicts violent harassment by a pack of dogs, although not of a bull but of a cat and a man on a donkey: Man on a donkey, with a cat on his head, pursued by dogs (F.39).

There is a preparatory drawing of the present print, also entitled Dogs to the bull (Bullfighting C)