On July 3, 1845, the Hippodrome de l’Étoile -the first Parisian hippodrome dedicated to spectacular performances -opened its doors on land that would later become Avenue Victor Hugo. With seating for 12,000 spectators, for ten years the Hippodrome hosted a dazzling display of events, notably historical reenactments of carousels, ladies’ races, bullfights and balloon ascents. This popular venue was sadly short-lived; in 1854 the redevelopment of the Place de l’Étoile resulted in the closure of the Hippodrome and it was demolished in 1855. The appearance of the Hippodrome has been known primarily through engravings, but our painting by Courbet provides a rare painted image. We can identify the oval shape of the arena, which was built like an amphitheater, as well as part of the covered gallery reserved for spectators and the main gate in the Moorish style. The Arc de Triomphe features prominently behind the trees. As the spectacle, Courbet has chosen to depict a bull fighting scene. Five matadors and a toreador on horseback enact the lively choreography of the corrida. In a letter to Armand Gautier in 1858, Courbet asks Gautier to send him “that sketch of the hippodrome with the bullfight. There is here a man from Brazil who bought it from me and who would like to have it right away.” (Petra ten-Dopesschate Chu, p. 160). It is interesting to compare Courbet’s Bull fighting scene to Manet’s Combat de Taureaux painted ten years later (fig. 1). There is no denying the similarities in composition, setting and palette. Perhaps just a coincidence, but perhaps a subject worthy of further contemplation. Fig. 1 Edouard Manet, Combat de Taureaux, Paris, Musée d’Orsay