
In his attempt to market his Spanish-ness, Picasso represented the bull fights with extreme historical and cultural accuracy. The bullfights took place in the hot afternoons, when the heat can be unbearable, and so those who can afford the seats enter by the door marked ‘Sombra’ so that they can sit out of the sun, whilst those seated in the sun enter the door with ‘Sol’ written on it and are allied to the Traje de Luces, the immensely coloured and embroidered ‘suit of lights’ of the Matador (Cox, 40). The poorer people sitting in the sunny side of the ring were on the side of the matador and wore bright colors to display this emhpasis. The richer people sitting in the sun were on the side of the bull and cheered for the matador's demise. The bullfight is all about duality and black and white conflicts in where are are two distinct and polar opposite sides at war here. Good and evil, nature and man, male and female, beast and grace, war and peace, sacrifice and slaughter, there are infinite number of themes to pull out of the Spanish bullfight. There is so much tradition involved in bullfighting that Picasso's use in his art had so much meaning and allusion loaded into each smudge of pastel or dab of paint.