Minotauromachia

This etching and engraving titled Minotauromachia, or “Battle of the Minotaur,” depicts a complex scene: The titular Minotaur enters at right, while a bearded man climbs a ladder to the left. In between them, a girl holds a candle aloft in an attempt to blind the massive Minotaur. A wounded female bullfighter lies across a horse at center, the animal’s insides empty on the ground. Two women accompanied by doves look down onto the encounter from a window. This enigmatic scene is among Picasso’s most celebrated etchings, sensitively inked and printed by Roger Lacourière.