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. Unlike all of Manet's previous depictions of matadors, this bullfighter carries a red cape.

Manet exhibited this painting, along with some twenty others on Spanish themes, at the solo exhibition he organized in a private pavilion adjacent to the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Théodore Duret, the writer who accompanied Manet to the Prado and probably also to the bullfight, bought this painting from the artist in 1870.

Inscription: Signed (lower left): Manet

the artist, Paris (until 1870; sold, ?September for Fr 1,200 to Duret); Théodore Duret, Paris (1870–94; his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, March 19, 1894, no. 20, as "Le torrero [sic] saluant," for Fr 10,500 to Durand-Ruel and Faure); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, and Jean-Baptiste Faure owned jointly until Faure sold his half share to Durand-Ruel on December 21, 1898; stock no. 2965, sold on October 25, 1894 to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1894–95; stock no. 1223, sold on August 31, 1895 to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1895–98; on deposit with Durand-Ruel, New York, August 31, 1895–December 31, 1898 (deposit no. 5350); New York stock no. 2073, sold on December 21 (Paris stock book) or December 31, 1898 (New York stock book) for Fr 20,000 to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1898; sold on December 31 for $8,000 to Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1898–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929; cat., 1931, pp. 144–45, ill.)

Paris. The artist's studio. Spring 1866, no catalogue [see Ref. Tabarant 1947].

Paris. Avenue de l'Alma. "Tableaux de M. Édouard Manet," May 1867, no. 16 (as "Un matador de taureaux").

Bordeaux. Galerie de la société des amis des arts. "Salon des amis des arts de Bordeaux," 1869, no. 409 (as "La première épée" or "Matador saluant") [see Ref. Dussol 1997].

Paris. École nationale des beaux-arts. "Exposition des œuvres de Édouard Manet," January 6–28, 1884, no. 34 (as "Le matador saluant," lent by Théodore Duret).

New York. Durand-Ruel. "Paintings by Édouard Manet," 1895, no. 24 [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967].

Buffalo Society of Artists. "Buffalo Society of Artists Fifth Annual Exhibition," 1896, no. 56 [see Ref. Wilson-Bareau 2002].

Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "Second Annual Exhibition," November 4, 1897–January 1, 1898, no. 139 (as "Torrero [sic] saluant").

Copley Hall and Allston Hall. "Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Modern Artists," March 7–28, 1898, no. 58 (lent by Durand-Ruel) [see Ref. Wilson-Bareau 2002].

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 78 (as "Torero Saluting") [2nd ed., 1958, no. 160].

Pennsylvania Museum of Art. "Manet and Renoir," November 29, 1933–January 1, 1934, no catalogue [see "The Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin," vol. 29, December 1933, p. 17].

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Manet to Matisse," May 27–June 26, 1949, no. 16.

Detroit Institute of Arts. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 2–October 28, 1951, no catalogue [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967].

Art Gallery of Toronto. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 14–December 12, 1951, no catalogue [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967].

City Art Museum of St. Louis. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 6–February 4, 1952, no catalogue [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967].

Seattle Art Museum. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 1–June 30, 1952, no catalogue [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967].

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Masterpieces of Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 16–November 1, 1970, unnumbered cat. (p. 77).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet, 1832–1883," September 10–November 27, 1983, no. 92.

Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 88.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993, no. A348.

Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Manet/Velázquez: La manière espagnole au XIXe siècle," September 16, 2002–January 12, 2003, no. 94.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting," March 4–June 8, 2003, no. 149.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 59.

Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19.Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.

Paris. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. "Picasso et les Maîtres," October 8, 2008–February 2, 2009, unnumbered cat. (p. 193; as "Matador saluant").

Émile Vallet. Courrier de la gironde (1869) [reprinted in Dominique Dussol, "Art et bourgeoisie: La Société des amis des arts de Bordeaux (1851–1939)," Bordeaux, 1997, pp. 225, 229], remarks that the defects of this work are its size and its ambition, when it is merely a study.

Théodore Duret. Letter to Édouard Manet. September 16, 1870 [published in A. Tabarant, "Manet et ses œuvres," Paris, 1947, p. 183], notes that he bought it from Manet for Fr 1,200, which he has not paid yet.

Édouard Manet. Letter to Théodore Duret. [September?] 1870 [published in Robert Rey, "Manet," New York, 1938, p. 21], discusses the purchase price.

Théodore Duret. Letter to Édouard Manet. July 1871 [published in A. Tabarant, "Manet, histoire catalographique," Paris, 1931, p. 153], apologizes for not having paid for it yet, noting that he will give Manet the money upon his return from his travels.

Édouard Manet. Letter to Théodore Duret. August 22, 1871 [published in Robert Rey, "Manet," New York, 1938, p. 21], acknowledges receipt of Fr 700 sent by Duret as partial payment for this picture.

Édouard Manet. Letter to Théodore Duret. March 6, 1871 [published in Robert Rey, "Manet," New York, 1938, p. 21], requests that Duret send him money, probably payment for this picture.

Edmond Bazire. Manet. Paris, 1884, pp. 21, 139, ill. (engraving by Guérard), suggests that it is a portrait of Manet's brother Gustave.

Louis Gonse. "Manet." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 29 (February 1884), p. 142, dates it 1866.

Joséphin Péladan. "Le procédé de Manet d'après l'exposition de l'École des Beaux-Arts." L'Artiste, 54 année, 1 (February 1884), p. 110.

Julie Manet. Journal (1893–1899). March 19, 1894 [published in Julie Manet, "Journal (1893–1899), sa jeunesse parmi les peintres impressionnistes et les hommes de lettres," preface by Jean Griot, Paris, 1979, p. 30], notes that it did not bring a very high price at the sale of the Duret collection.

Théodore Duret. Histoire d'Édouard Manet et de son œuvre. Paris, 1902, pp. 179, 212, no. 78, suggests that it depicts the moment where the toreador is asking for permission to kill the bull.

Étienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manuscrit de l'œuvre d'Édouard Manet, peinture et pastels. [1906], unpaginated, no. 78 [Département des Estampes, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris], calls it "Un matador de taureaux" and mistakenly states that it was no. 24 in the sale of the Duret collection.

Emil Waldmann. "Französische Bilder in amerikanischem Privatbesitz II." Kunst und Künstler 9 (December 1910), p. 134.

Emil Waldmann. "Französische Bilder in Amerikanischem Privatbesitz, Part 1." Kunst und Künstler 9 (November 1910), p. 93, ill.

Théodore Duret. Manet and the French Impressionists. 2nd ed. [1st ed. 1910]. London, 1912, p. 227, no. 78.

Julius Meier-Graefe. Édouard Manet. Munich, 1912, pp. 153–54 n. 1, 316, fig. 72, notes that it is not clear whether it was conceived before or after Manet's trip to Madrid; provides ex-collection information.

Emil Waldmann. Édouard Manet. Berlin, 1923, pp. 32, 39, 46, ill., dates it about 1865–66.

J.-E. Blanche. Manet. London, 1925, p. 42, includes it in a list of works produced between 1867 and 1870.

Étienne Moreau-Nélaton. Manet raconté par lui-même. Paris, 1926, vol. 1, pp. 76, 137, fig. 76; vol. 2, 128, no. 34, fig. 342, dates it about 1865 and agrees that the model is Manet's brother Eugène; publishes a photograph of it in the 1884 Paris exhibition.

A. Tabarant. "Autour de Manet." L'art vivant 4 (May 4, 1928), p. 349.

Patrick Hoyan. "La collection Havemeyer au Metropolitan Museum." Beaux-arts, chronique des arts et de la curiosité 7 (January 1929), pp. 1, 6, ill.

A. Tabarant. "Les Manet de la collection Havemeyer." La Renaissance 13 (February 1930), pp. 61, 69, ill., dates it 1866, but notes that it is usually dated 1867; affirms that Eugène Manet posed for it; provides ex-collection information.

A. Tabarant. Manet, histoire catalographique. Paris, 1931, pp. 152–54, no. 113, notes that it was painted in Manet's studio on the rue Guyot in 1866 and that his brother Eugène posed for it.

Paul Colin. Édouard Manet. Paris, 1932, p. 74.

Paul Jamot and Georges Wildenstein. Manet. Paris, 1932, vol. 1, pp. 131–32, no. 124; vol. 2, fig. 44, note that this picture was signed after the artist's death and list it with works from 1866.

J. Meier-Graefe. "The Manet Centenary." Formes no. 24 (April 1932), ill., dates it 1865.

E. Lambert. "Manet et l'Espagne." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 9 (June 1933), p. 375, notes the Spanish influence in this work and agrees that his brother Eugène posed for it.

Gotthard Jedlicka. Édouard Manet. Zürich, 1941, pp. 85, 104, 397 n. 7, remarks that this work could be a result of Manet's trip to Spain in 1865.

Michel Florisoone. Manet. Monaco, 1947, p. XXI, erroneously dates it 1860.

A. Tabarant. Manet et ses œuvres. 4th ed. (1st. ed. 1942). Paris, 1947, pp. 121, 124, 137, 491, 512, 536, no. 121, fig. 121, states that this picture was signed by Manet during his lifetime [see Ref. Jamot and Wildenstein 1932] and was painted in 1866 in the studio on the rue Guyot, where it was exhibited the same year.

George Heard Hamilton. Manet and His Critics. New Haven, 1954, p. 155.

Georges Bataille. Manet: Biographical and Critical Study. New York, 1955, pp. 10, 47, ill. (color).

Henri Perruchot. La vie de Manet. Paris, 1959, pp. 188, 213.

Louisine W. Havemeyer. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. New York, 1961, pp. 223–24, calls it "El Espada".

Denis Rouart. Letter to Margaretta M. Salinger. May 9, 1961 [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967], states that neither of Manet's brothers posed for this picture.

A. Tabarant. La Vie artistique au temps de Baudelaire. 2nd ed. (1st ed. 1942). [Paris], 1963, p. 376.

Joel Isaacson. "The Early Paintings of Claude Monet." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1967, p. 311 n. 11, p. 313 n. 22.

Sandra Orienti in The Complete Paintings of Manet. New York, 1967, p. 96, no. 102, ill.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX–XX Centuries." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3, New York, 1967, pp. 43–44, ill., date it 1866, noting that it was painted a year after Manet's return from his trip to Spain; remark that it shows the direct influence of Velázquez in the tone of the transparent ground.

Merete Bodelsen. "Early Impressionist Sales 1874–94 in the Light of some Unpublished 'procès verbaux'." Burlington Magazine 110 (June 1968), pp. 341, 345.

Margaretta M. Salinger. "Windows Open to Nature." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 27 (Summer 1968), unpaginated, ill.

Anthea Callen. "Jean-Baptiste Faure, 1830–1914: A Study of a Patron and Collector of the Impressionists and their Contemporaries." Master's thesis, University of Leicester, 1971, pp. 249–50, no. 371, states that Duret paid Manet Fr 2,000 for this picture in 1870 [but see Refs. Manet 1870 and Duret 1870].

Anthea Callen. "Faure and Manet." Gazette des beaux-arts 83 (March 1974), pp. 171, 178 nn. 93–94, provides provenance information.

Denis Rouart and Daniel Wildenstein. Édouard Manet, catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1975, vol. 1, pp. 5, 18, 25, 108–9, no. 111, ill.

François Duret-Robert in Maurice Sérullaz. "The Verdict of the Salerooms." Phaidon Encyclopedia of Impressionism. English ed. [French ed., 1974]. Oxford, 1978, p. 249.

Marc Saul Gerstein. "Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Fans." PhD diss., Harvard University, 1978, p. 48, notes that Manet used this motif in a fan fragment painted in about 1866, "Toréador saluant" (RW319) and that the same figure reappeared in 1879 on one of the small side panels of a tambourine (RW320).

Pierre Daix. La vie de peintre d'Édouard Manet. Paris, 1983, pp. 150–51.

Charles S. Moffett in Manet, 1832–1883. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983, pp. 240–43, no. 92, ill. (color, overall and detail) [French ed., Paris, 1983], dates it 1866 or 1867, leaning more towards a later date based on the omission of this work from all of the reviews of the exhibition that Manet held in his studio in 1866; agrees with the Duret sale catalogue [see Ref. 1894] that the model is a member of a troupe of Spanish dancers who performed in Paris during the Exposition Universelle of 1867; notes that the pose of the matador is similar to that of the figure at the left in "La Posada" (RW110), but comments that it is impossible to know if there is a direct connection between the two figures.

Kathleen Adler. Manet. Oxford, 1986, p. 181, comments that in the 1860s the theme of death and the modern hero occupied Manet in several paintings, including this one.

Maureen C. O'Brien in Maureen C. O'Brien. In Support of Liberty: European Paintings at the 1883 Pedestal Fund Art Loan Exhibition. Exh. cat., Parrish Art Museum. Southampton, N.Y., 1986, p. 162 n. 6, calls it "Majo Saluting".

Frances Weitzenhoffer. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, pp. 102, 128–29, 255, fig. 81, describes how Mrs. Havemeyer bought this picture from Durand-Ruel for her husband.

Françoise Cachin. Manet. [Paris], 1990, pp. 62, 158, fig. 2 (color).

Anne Distel. Impressionism: The First Collectors. New York, 1990, pp. 58, 241, colorpl. 39.

Éric Darragon. Manet. Paris, 1991, pp. 377, 392, colorpl. 85.

Louisine W. Havemeyer. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. 3rd ed. [1st ed. 1930, repr. 1961]. New York, 1993, pp. 223–24, 307–8 n. 10, p. 333 n. 321.

Susan Alyson Stein in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pp. 218, 224, pl. 212.

Gary Tinterow in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pp. 27, 30, 53 n. 68.

Gretchen Wold in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 352–53, no. A348, ill.

Beth Archer Brombert. Édouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat. Boston, 1996, p. 305.

Dominique Dussol. Art et bourgeoisie: La société des amis des arts de Bordeaux (1851–1939). Bordeaux, 1997, pp. 218–19, 229, 267, ill. in color (overall and detail), includes it as no. 409, "La première épée," in the Salon of 1869 of the Société des amis des arts de Bordeaux.

Fred Licht. Manet. Milan, 1998, p. 55, fig. 32.

Carol Armstrong. Manet Manette. New Haven, 2002, pp. 11, 15, 28, 102–3, 344 n. 4, no. 16, figs. 16 and 49, suggests that Manet combines here the features of his brother Eugène and a dancer from a Spanish troupe who visited Paris during the Universal Exposition of 1867.

Trevor Fairbrother in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, pp. 521–22, 541.

Manuela B. Mena Marqués in Manet en el Prado. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 190, 225, 443, 455.

Gudrun Mühle-Maurer in Manet en el Prado. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 67, 71–72, 79, 82 n. 49, pp. 354, 396, 400, 401 n. 49, p. 496, fig. 22 (color), dates it 1866–67 in the caption but lists it as being executed in 1865 in the chronology; suggests that the figure has the characteristic traits of the famous bullfighter Cayetano Sanz who Manet saw in a bullfight on Sunday, September 3, 1865 in Madrid; continues that the matador in the painting wears a suit that corresponds to the one worn by Cayetano in the print by R. Rojas (fig. 25), that was apparently designed by the matador himself to minimize the risk of injury.

H. Barbara Weinberg in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, p. 283.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris. New York, 2003, pp. 233, 236, 496, 498, no. 149, fig. 9.55 (color and black and white) [French ed., "Manet/Velázquez: La manière espagnole au XIXe siècle," Paris, 2002, pp. 201, 386, 388, no. 94, fig. 109 (color)], dates it 1866–67; remarks that this is probably one of the first lifesize figures that Manet painted on his return from Spain; discusses the identity of the sitter, suggesting that Eugène or another model posed in the matador's costume, and that the head was taken from one of the carde-de-visite photographs that portrayed famous bullfighters.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau in Manet en el Prado. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 54, 63 n. 103, pp. 387, 393 n. 103, suggests that the figure is either saluting the president, the person who presides over the bullfight in his box, or dedicating the bull that he will kill to a lady.

Ross King. The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism. New York, 2006, p. 164, calls it "The Saluting Torero" and dates it autumn 1865.

Xavier Bray in Inspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Denver, 2007, p. 123, calls it "The Saluting Torero" and dates it 1865; notes that it was based on a pencil sketch made at a bullfight.

Gary Tinterow in The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 86–87, 229–30, no. 59, ill. (color and black and white) and fig. 16 (installation photo, color).

Simon Kelly in Manet, inventeur du Moderne. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2011, p. 59.

This picture was painted shortly after Manet's trip to Spain in 1865. It has been suggested that one of Manet's brothers, Eugène or Gustave, posed for it, but the catalogue of the Théodore Duret sale of 1894 proposes that Manet used a model from a troupe of Spanish dancers and toreadors that performed in Paris during the 1867 Universal Exposition. In more recent literature [Ref. Mühle-Maurer 2003] the matador has been identified as the famous Spanish toreador Cayetano Sanz who Manet saw in a bullfight during his trip to Spain.