Lorca’s New York Drawings: Fabulous Beasts, Leashed Wild Animals and the So-called Escena de domador

Abstract

Ten drawings that Lorca produced in New York or shortly thereafter feature animales fabulosos. This article proposes that he found inspiration not only in the illuminations of the Beato de Liébana manuscript held at El Escorial but also in two others recently acquired by the Morgan Library. Furthermore, the exploration of other medieval images depicting leashed wild animals, alongside the elucidation of certain elements of circus culture observable at Coney Island—the sideshow strongman—lead to a significant reinterpretation of the relationship between figure and beast in one of those ten works, namely the Escena de domador con animal fabuloso.