Mlle V. en costume d’espada (1862)

Manet, Édouard (1832-1883)

Mlle V. en costume d’espada (Mademoiselle V. in the Costume of an Espada)
1862
Oil on canvas, 165.1 x 127.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York

Manet depicted model Victorine Meurent (1844–1927) in the guise of a male espada, or matador, borrowing her pose from a Renaissance print. Victorine’s shoes are unsuitable for bullfighting, and the pink cape that she flourishes is the wrong hue, but she carries off her role with panache. The backdrop reproduces a scene from Goya’s Tauromaquia series celebrating the feats of bullfighters. When this painting was exhibited at the infamous Salon des Refusés of 1863, a commentator noted, “Manet loves Spain, and his favorite master seems to be Goya, whose vivid and contrasting hues, whose free and fiery touch he imitates.” (MET)

See also:

Meurent, Victorine (1844-1927)